Sarasota Bradenton Airport was closed due to damage from Hurricane Milton

Sarasota Bradenton International Airport suffered major roof damage when Hurricane Milton made landfall near Sarasota early Thursday morning.

Airport officials were already working Thursday morning to repair two sections of the main concourse roof.

Airport CEO and President Rick Piccolo offered a brief overview of the damage around 11 a.m. Thursday after conducting initial assessments with airport staff at dawn. Despite the two areas of damage, Piccolo said the terminal will be repaired before the end of the week and expects the airport to be operational and flights to resume by Saturday afternoon.

“We lost the roof over two sections of the main hall and also caused water damage underneath. A number of private aircraft hangars were also severely damaged. We also had the usual debris from trees,” he said.

Tampa International Airport suspended flights and travel at 4 p.m. on Oct. 8 ahead of Hurricane Milton. Tampa International closed earlier the same day.

An SRQ anemometer measured sustained winds of 102 mph around 2 a.m., Piccolo recalls. He stayed overnight at the airport and said Hurricane Milton's second wall had the biggest impact on the roof and caused the second section of damage above the concourse.

Samantha Gholar covers social justice for USA Today Network-Florida. Contact her on X (Twitter) @samanthagholar or email [email protected].

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