When war broke out in Iran at the end of February, Floral Park’s Donna Caltabiano was nearing the end of her Middle East vacation.
She had just arrived in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, when the expanding war caused her to shelter in place. She stayed sheltered for a week, unable to catch a flight home, until her safe arrival at JFK on Sunday, March 8.
“I felt relieved when the plane took off,” she said. “Nobody helped us get out. Nobody.”
Caltabiano, 72, said that when she returned home, she ate and spent time with her family before eventually going to her home on the border of Queens and Nassau County.
She had gone to Turkey on Feb. 12 with friends, and then traveled through Jordan for 12 days with Gate 1 Tours, before arriving in Dubai.
“When we got to our hotel on Saturday, we were told that we had to stay in place, because the airports were closed and they were bombing the city,” she said. “We just got there, we didn’t know what to do next.”
As thewarhas expanded, the UAE has been targeted withnumerous bomb and missile attacks.
“Our country was not helping us,” she said. “We heard every day, ‘Oh, they’re sending planes.’ They never sent any planes. They never sent anything.”
The U.S. State Department issued statements to citizens traveling to the UAE, urging them to follow local media and contact the department for assistance.
As of March 2, theU.S. government saidall non-essential U.S. government employees and their families were to leave the UAE due to the threat of armed conflict.
Source: LI Press
