The Santa Barbara Airport resumed operations Friday morning after a closure caused by heavy rains flooding the airfield’s runways.

The airport officially reopened at 9:20 a.m. after shutting down twice on Christmas Day, and said it is resuming all of its normal operations.

Crews worked overnight to clear water that had overflowed from the nearby creek onto the runway, according to Lauren Gonzales, an airport spokeswoman.

“It posed a pretty challenging environment for our crews to remove all the water,” Gonzales told Noozhawk. “So, as of 9:20 this morning, water levels were low enough and crews were able to deem it safe to reopen the airport.”

Gonzales added that the airport expects to remain open for the rest of the holiday weekend with no issues.

Some flights were canceled or delayed by the closures, and customers were also encouraged to contact their airlines directly to see updates or changes to their flights.

Gonzales thanked travelers for their patience, and the airport crew for working over the holiday to help the facility reopen.

“We want to thank everyone for their patience and understanding,” Gonzales said. “We know it’s a big inconvenience when holiday travel especially is disrupted.”

The airport temporarily closed on Thursday after the area received more than 5 inches of rain due to this week’s winter storm.

The first closure was on Thursday morning until 9:30 a.m., but operations resumed later in the day. However, the airport was forced to close again at about 4 p.m.

Passengers who had planned to fly out on Friday were still feeling the lingering effects of the shutdown.

John Anderson, who was in town visiting family, was supposed to fly home to Fort Worth, Texas, Friday morning. But he found out his flight had been changed when he arrived at the terminal.

Despite the inconvenience, Anderson said it was not a big problem for him since he is retired and does not need to be back immediately.

“(I am going) to be here the whole day,” Anderson said. “My daughter’s actually going to come pick me up. We’re going to grab lunch. That’s the saving grace.”

Other passengers will see a bigger impact on their trips.

Michaela Freeborn and Ari Barrera were supposed to take a 7:30 a.m. connecting flight for a trip to Puerto Vallarta. Now the pair will have to fly to San Francisco, where they will stay overnight and fly out Saturday.

Freeborn said they will miss a day of their trip and will likely have to pay a late fee on the Airbnb they booked for the duration of their stay.

“It’s just annoying more so than anything,” Barrera said. “We’re losing out on some time we had planned. Also, I took off work…traveling extra, being stuck in the airport. It’s super frustrating.”