Flash flooding submerged the runway at Clovis Regional Airport in eastern New Mexico late Thursday and into Friday, Sept. 25, 2026, leaving behind a field of Clovis airport flood debris that forced city officials to shut the field down with no flights in or out.
The City of Clovis said in a statement posted Friday that runway submergence, plus the debris left behind as the water receded, made the field unsafe for aircraft. Officials said they would reevaluate airport operations within 24 hours, putting the first status check on Saturday, Sept. 26.
As of this report, the city had not posted a public notice declaring Clovis Regional Airport (CVN) reopened. Consequently, travelers and operators should treat the field as closed pending an updated notice from the City Manager’s Office.
A city underwater
The airport closure was one piece of a broader flooding emergency. Clovis Police Chief Trevor Thron said dispatchers fielded roughly 40 calls for stranded or disabled vehicles as rain fell through Thursday night into Friday morning.
At least nine homes, primarily in neighborhoods south of Dennis Chavez Lake, were ultimately found to be damaged by rising water, according to the city and the American Red Cross, which assessed the area alongside local officials. Fire Station 6 at Main and 21st streets also took on water.
The National Weather Service issued a series of flash flood warnings for southeastern Curry County through Thursday evening, reporting radar- and public-estimated rainfall of roughly 2 to 5 inches over a few hours in and around Clovis — enough to overwhelm street and airfield drainage alike.
Meanwhile, Mayor Michael Morris and City Commissioner Debbie Zamora visited affected residents Friday afternoon to check on utilities and immediate needs. The city suspended residential trash collection for the day and canceled its annual “Trek for Trash” cleanup event, while continuing to collect damage reports from residents to determine whether the flooding warrants a state disaster declaration.
Clovis Regional Airport, known by its FAA identifier CVN, receives subsidized commercial service under the federal Essential Air Service program, most recently flown by Denver Air Connection to Denver and Dallas/Fort Worth. It was not immediately clear how many scheduled flights were canceled or diverted during the closure; airlines and charter operators were directed to contact their carriers directly for rebooking.
Weather as a FOD hazard
Runway foreign object debris is usually associated with dropped hardware, worn pavement, or wildlife strikes. Clovis, however, is a reminder that extreme weather can generate a debris field just as fast — silt, gravel, vegetation, and displaced pavement material carried in by fast-moving floodwater and left behind once it drains.
That kind of debris poses the same risks as any other FOD: engine ingestion, tire damage, and strikes to landing gear or airframe surfaces. Therefore, airports typically require a full visual and physical runway inspection after flooding before returning a field to service, checking for undermined pavement, standing water in low spots, and debris hidden in grooves or drainage channels.
The FAA’s guidance on airport FOD management, Advisory Circular 150/5210-24A, outlines inspection and housekeeping practices airports use to identify and remove debris before it can damage an aircraft or engine — guidance that applies as much to storm debris as to dropped tools or pavement fragments.
FODNews has covered other cases where non-mechanical hazards closed active runways, including a sinkhole that shut a runway at LaGuardia and a pavement hole that delayed operations at Manchester Airport.
Clovis officials have not said when a full inspection and debris cleanup will be complete. As a result, FODNews will update this story as the city releases further information on the airport’s reopening.
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Sources
- City of Clovis — Updates Regarding September 24 Weather and Flooding
- ABC 7 Amarillo (KVII) — Clovis assesses damage to infrastructure and homes after severe flash flooding
- National Weather Service Albuquerque — Flash Flood Warning, Curry County, Sept. 24, 2026
- FAA Advisory Circular 150/5210-24A — Airport Foreign Object Debris (FOD) Management
