Due to Hurricane Milton, Melbourne Orlando International Airport now has a 30-foot hole in its roof.

Hours after Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key, Florida as a Category 3 storm, the hurricane left its mark on the coast. The storm made landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 9, and as it moved toward the state’s east coast, Hurricane Milton brought wind, tornadoes, torrential rain and flash floods. A large section of Melbourne Airport’s ceiling collapsed around 2am on Thursday, October 10.

However, the damage left a roughly 30-by-40-foot hole in the roof, according to Greg Donovan, general manager of Melbourne Orlando International Airport, located about an hour east of Orlando, Florida.

“We caused a large portion of our skylight, technically called the Kalwall, to collapse in the middle of the terminal,” Donovan said. “The large section fell and caused a very large gap, a wide open gap in our roof. The other lucky element of this is that it has been very dry since the first wave so we haven’t had much water ingress. The focus. “Right now they are mobilizing teams to go there to fix the problem and limit the damage and water ingress into the building.”

Damage from Hurricane Milton in Florida: Photos from city to city show flooding and tornado damage

USA TODAY Network-Florida journalists were covering the storm from the airport as Hurricane Milton hit the entire state. Brevard County first responders and airport operations personnel were also on scene.

While Hurricane Milton lashed parts of Florida with torrential rain, Melbourne Airport was spared a downpour from about 6pm on Wednesday (the night before) until 7am on Thursday. With the 30-foot-long piece of skylight now lying on the airport floor, crews were busy Thursday morning securing the hole in the roof.

No one was injured in the incident.

“We were only up there for a very short time just because of the conditions. We need to calm the conditions a little bit to fix the problem,” Donovan said. “We are very grateful to our team and how well they responded to this situation. It could have been a lot worse.”

Melbourne Orlando International Airport spokeswoman Melissa Naughton said the airport plans to reopen at 9am on Friday, October 11.

The damaged pieces fell in the middle of the terminal, which was closed to the public at the time.

Airport staff had already noticed that the roof section was damaged before the damage and cordoned off the area.

The fallen pieces managed to miss artistic sand sculptures and a NASCAR racing car on display in the terminal.

Donovan estimated the repair costs would be in the “high tens of thousands” of dollars.

Hurricane Milton damage video at Florida airport

A large portion of the ceiling skylight collapses to the terminal floor at Melbourne Orlando International Airport during Hurricane Milton around 2 a.m. Thursday, October 10, 2024. No one was injured in the incident. Video provided by Melbourne Orlando International Airport.

Video provided by Melbourne Orlando International Airport

Sangalang is a senior digital producer for USA TODAY Network-Florida. Keep following her Twitter or Instagram at @byjensangalang. Support local journalism. Consider subscribing to a Florida newspaper.