12 hours ago
South Floridians trapped in Israel amid missile strikes, flight cancellations
A South Florida journalist and a Miami mother are among hundreds of Americans stranded in Israel after Iranian missile attacks grounded flights and closed airspace.
Al Ferguson, a reporter from Wilton Manors covering Pride events in Tel Aviv for Hotspots Magazine and Happening Out Television Network, found himself reporting under vastly different circumstances.
"This isn't your normal beat"
"This isn't your normal beat. You wouldn't normally be in a war zone," CBS News Miami said during a Zoom interview with Ferguson.
"No," he replied. "And my coming here, this was the last thing that we expected!"
Ferguson was in Tel Aviv when missiles from Iran flew overhead — most intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome defense system. With commercial air traffic halted, he is now stuck.
"It is beyond scary here, because there's literally, there's literally nothing I can do," Ferguson said. "And to be honest with you, [I] feel very trapped and isolated."
Miami mother stuck after visiting son
Dahlia Bendavid, who traveled to Israel to visit her son, is also grounded indefinitely.
"Everybody found themselves stuck here in the same situation. Airspace is closed, no one can get out," said Bendavid, of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation. "I had a flight that was scheduled to leave last night, and obviously it was canceled. And I'm looking at other ways of leaving the country."
She quickly became a point of connection for others in the same situation. What began as a small group chat among South Florida travelers grew rapidly.
"It started with 30 people. Now we're up to about 340 people in this chat group," Bendavid said. Federation members from Broward and Palm Beach counties have since joined, all searching for a safe way home.
"It's scary. You don't know when it's going to come."
With the Israeli government urging civilians not to drive due to the threat of missile attacks, options remain extremely limited.
"It's a very different situation, and it's scary," Bendavid said. "It's scary. You don't know where, when it's going to come."
Both Ferguson and Bendavid, along with hundreds of South Florida residents, are now anxiously waiting for airspace to reopen and for commercial flights to resume. Israel's national airline, El Al, has canceled flights at least through Monday.
