Milwaukee nurse and Wisconsin teen stuck overseas as Middle East attacks continue
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) - As attacks continue across the Middle East, a Milwaukee nurse and a Wisconsin teen are stuck in different locations overseas sheltering in place and waiting for a chance to get home.
Santiago Muirhead
Eighteen-year-old Shorewood High School graduate Santiago Muirhead is in Abu Dhabi for college interviews through New York University. But instead of campus tours and interviews, he said he’s watching missiles fly overhead.
“On the Abu Dhabi campus we look up and all of a sudden we hear an explosion then we see streaks in the sky because missiles are coming down and interceptors are going up to try to stop them," said Muirhead.
Phones started buzzing with alerts, and he said students were rushed to safety.
“Our phones were going off like Amber Alerts but instead saying, 'Seek shelter, missiles are coming down get out of there,'" he said.
Since then, Muirhead said more than 100 students from around the world have been stuck in a hotel, watching travel plans change by the minute.
“I had a few friends that were waiting to get on their flights and all of a sudden they had to seek shelter immediately,” he said.
He said seeing the conflict up close has changed his perspective.
“What struck me the most was how ordinary people, the ones who feel these moments first - students, travelers, families, people who didn’t make the decisions that led to this conflict - are really the ones suffering,” he said.
Heather Berken
In Israel, Milwaukee nurse Heather Berken is also waiting.
Her trip to visit friends and run the Tel Aviv Half Marathon has turned into days of fear and waiting.
“You’re sort of bracing, please let it not hit us or what’s it going to sound like if something comes through the building," said Berken.
Like many others trapped in the region, she said she’s still trying to figure out when she’ll be able to leave.
“They’re still limiting the flights that are going out and how many people can get out. On one of the WhatsApp groups I’m on they’re saying it could take weeks to clear the backlog,” she said.