LaGuardia airport update: Storms threaten to worsen sinkhole-related crisis ahead of Memorial Day

LaGuardia authorities have discovered a large sinkhole during a routine morning inspection at the runway.

This forced the indefinite closure of runway 4/22, causing severe travel disruptions just as the Memorial Day weekend began.

The sinkhole was spotted around 11:00 a.m. (local time) on Wednesday, May 20, on the taxiway near Runway 4/22, one of the airport’s only two operational runways.

The authority responsible for LaGuardia Airport immediately closed the runway and called upon emergency construction teams in order to identify the problem and start fixing it.

Unlike other airports in the area, such as JFK and Newark airports, LaGuardia currently only has one operational runway, which is designated as Runway 13/31. This is expected to cause many problems and result in numerous cancellations and delays.

In addition to the sinkhole-related crisis, severe thunderstorms are forecasted for Thursday afternoon, which can likely cause more disruptions.

There are reports of travelers experiencing confusion and chaos at the airport because of long lines, rebooked flights, and passengers who are camping out near baggage claim.

The Port Authority said that it is looking into several potential causes, one of which is a nearby fuel line construction project that may be using tunneling equipment. Though it is rare to see sinkholes on runways, there was an incident earlier this year at Baltimore Airport involving a runway closure.

The runway is expected to remain closed until further notice, although airlines such as Delta and Southwest have announced weather-related waivers.