Miami International Airport Flights Resume Tuesday As Hurricane Recovery Continues

MIAMI, FL — Miami International Airport resumed limited operations on Tuesday as Florida begins its recovery from the destruction wrought by Hurricane Irma. Any passengers hoping to catch pre-planned flights should check with their airlines directly before going to the airport.

"Many airlines are not operating their full schedules," the airport said in an advisory notice. (For more information on this and other local stories, subscribe for free to the Miami Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

"Today, we expect to operate at 30% and will see operations increase daily as flights resume, possibly by the weekend," the airport said.

The airport's Rental Car Center opened on Tuesday.

The first arrival of the day was the 1090 Seattle flight by American Airlines just after 7 a.m. Aerolíneas Argentinas' 1802 flight was the first international airline to land at the airport since operations halted.

Irma did not cause as much damage in Florida as some forecasters had feared. But Terminal buildings at Miami International Airport suffered significant water damage, and ceiling tiles at gate areas fell down throughout the airport, according to authorities.

Most commercial airports in Florida are open although hundreds of flights are still being canceled or delayed as the state recovers from Hurricane Irma.

The Federal Aviation Administration says airports in Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Orlando, Tampa and Jacksonville are open. The airport in Naples on the southwest coast is closed except for emergency flights. FlightAware.com says about 2,000 U.S. flights scheduled for Tuesday were canceled by early afternoon, including about 500 in Miami and 400 in Orlando. Airlines are telling passengers to make sure their flight is on time before going to the airport.

As Irma weakens, Florida has been left with the devastation by the record-breaking storm. Irma has since been downgraded to a tropical storm, with maximum sustained winds at around 25 mph on Tuesday, according to the National Hurricane Center, after smashing into the Florida Keys as a Category 4 storm.

Watch: Time-Lapse Captures Irma's Fury On Miami Beach

Hurricane Irma: Latest Updates In Miami

By 6 a.m. Tuesday, Irma was about 65 miles southwest of Atlanta, moving north-northwest at 16 mph. The storm killed at least nine people in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina and dozens in the Caribbean and Cuba with a death toll of 42, according to ABC News. The Associated Press reported that at one point, some 13 million Florida residents were without electricity — roughly two-thirds of the state's residents. According to Florida Power & Light's web site, by 8 a.m. Tuesday, 4.9 million customers across the state had no power.

Geoff Dempsey and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images