Cleanup is underway at the Calgary International Airport after a devastating storm Monday evening that saw ceiling tiles rain down inside the domestic terminal.
The Calgary International Airport says parts of its domestic terminal building are closed due to damage caused by hail and heavy rainfall.
The airport says in a post on social media the work has started to clean up the water and assess the damage. YYC confirmed late Monday that hail and heavy rain caused damage to the building.
“We had some heavy rain and some of the rain took advantage of the holes that were created by the hail falling into the roof system, and that created the spills inside the terminals,” said Calgary Airport Authority COO Chris Miles, in an update Tuesday afternoon.
Hail and heavy rainfall have reportedly caused structural damage at some parts of the facility. The airport evacuated B gates and some C gates at the Domestic Terminal.
However, parts of the domestic terminal will remain closed pending maintenance and until further notice.
Dozens of flights have been delayed or cancelled with cleanup crews still onsite. The timeline for repairs and cost of the damage is yet to be determined.
WestJet grounds 16 planes after the hailstorm, affecting 10% of its fleet. 84 flights were canceled on Wednesday, 106 on Tuesday, and 58 on Monday. Parts of Calgary Airport's terminal remain closed. Air Canada operations are back to normal.
No injuries were reported during the hail storm, but at the nearby long-term airport parking lot, there was damage to several vehicles. The airport is telling passengers to check with their airline for flight updates.
Development was not sudden, Environment Canada had issued a severe thunderstorm warning for parts of south-central Alberta late Monday night.
The storm that made its way through the north-end of the city also caused destruction in northeast Calgary communities like Skyview and Cornerstone before heading east towards Strathmore.
The weather agency had warned of powerful wind gusts, baseball-sized hail and torrential rain.
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