At least 76 flights have been delayed or canceled at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in the capital of Sichuan province due to heavy rain and thunderstorms on Tuesday, according to China News Service.

More than 7,000 passengers were stranded at the airport as a result.

The heaviest rain and thunderstorms this year hit the area at dawn on Tuesday, leading to a full shutdown of the airport for almost an hour until 9:46 am, when departures began to resume — but arriving flights still needed to be diverted.

By noon, only 209 flights had been processed, with 650 more still to be dealt with. Four flights were canceled. The airport authority said it expected all stranded passengers to depart no later than 6 pm.