TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa International Airport will resume operation at 10 a.m. Friday.

The airport closed to all passenger flights at 5 p.m. on Tuesday ahead of Hurricane Ian. On Thursday, once the rain and winds cleared, hundreds of employees returned to assess the runways, airfield and terminal.

“I think the damage was essentially just roof leaks,” said Joe Lopano, CEO of Tampa International Airport. “We have a lot of roof here at Tampa International.”

Damage was minimal and airport staff determined that they would resume full operations late Friday morning.

This is good news for the thousands of people who were stranded in the Tampa area from canceled flights just before the storm. Airport staff helped those trying to wait the storm out at the airport find accommodations in local shelters.

Cargo planes resumed service Thursday night.

“There weren’t any aircrafts here, the airlines took the aircrafts out when we closed on Tuesday. They were in other cities but they’re making their way back here,” Lopano said Thursday.

The first flight scheduled to land at Tampa International is set for roughly 10 a.m. Friday, while the first departing flight listed as ‘on time’ is scheduled at 11:16 a.m.

Airport officials say they’re expecting an extremely high volume of people to pass through over the next few days. ​

Other airports

The St. Petersburg-Clearwater and Orlando airports also are reopening Friday.

Meanwhile south of the Bay area, that’s not the case at the Sarasota-Bradenton International airport.

The facility is dealing with serious damage across the complex due to Hurricane Ian.

There’s roof damage and there was flooding inside the facility. Also, a ticketing area was heavily damaged as were some hangars.

So far, there’s no word on when the airport will reopen.