On 11 March 2011, the airport was damaged by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and then badly flooded by the subsequent tsunami. In addition to submerging the apron, taxiways and runway, the floodwaters reached up to parts of the 2nd level of the passenger terminal, rendering electrical equipment, transformers and safety equipment inoperable. Operations at Sendai as well as Odate-Noshiro Airport and Sado Airport, which had been controlled by Sendai Airport control tower, were suspended. Some 1300 people were stranded within the terminal until 13 March, when they were evacuated. By 17 March military engineers partially opened the airport for tsunami response flights.