Mother Nature, in the form of drying winds, is helping with the cleanup at Corona Municipal Airport (AJO) in Southern California. The airport has been closed to the general public since the second week of January.
Torrential rains turned the airport into a lake last month. Although most of the aircraft were moved to higher ground, the water rose too fast for business owners to protect their property.
The receding waters left layers of mud, which have since dried and been removed from taxiways and the runway by street sweepers. As this issue was going to press, plans were being made to repaint the runway markings. The runway did not suffer any structural damage.
In the meantime, tenants are waiting to see if the airport will be declared a federal disaster area. That designation would allow the businesses to receive funding to repair and rebuild their businesses.