A St. Louis native currently living in Dubai says her family is struggling to find flights out of the United Arab Emirates.
The United States and Israel launched an attack against Iran on Saturday after failed negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. The initial strikes led to the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran began retaliatory strikes this week against neighboring states where U.S. troops are based.
They include the United Arab Emirates, where St. Louisan Whitney Reynolds lives with her husband and two children.
Limited flights have resumed since the start of the conflict. But Reynolds said many of those flights have been canceled at the last minute, leaving her family without a reliable way out.
Official guidance from the State Department says citizens should not expect to be evacuated by the U.S. government.
Reynolds said that she has faced long wait times in her attempts to reach the State Department’s call center and that officials have not formalized an evacuation plan.
“It feels a little bit like gaslighting,” Reynolds said. “We’re being told, ‘Oh, we’re helping you.’ But anytime we are reaching out, we’re coming back with nothing. So, it’s really up to us.”
Courtesy
/
Whitney Reynolds
Whitney Reynold’s family looks out onto Dubai the night that rockets began to be launched into the Middle East after the U.S. and Israeli military operation against Iran started.
The Reynolds family has been sheltering in place periodically since the war started — typically several times a day.
“It’s very much like being in ‘The Twilight Zone,’” Reynolds said. “While we do feel that the UAE is protecting us and doing the best they can, there’s a crack in that foundational sense of safety. We haven’t left the house in six days.”
Reynolds told STLPR that her family can afford commercial flights back to the United States. But even those flights come with financial risk, as refunds for canceled flights can take up to a week.
Evacuations by the U.S. government aren’t free, either. The State Department uses emergency funds to evacuate U.S. citizens in crisis, but the government bills them later for any transportation costs.
Those evacuation flights take citizens to a nearby safe location, typically not the United States. Evacuees are responsible for the rest of the transportation themselves, which Reynolds says many cannot afford.
“It’s really just (getting) you out of the line of fire, and then — fingers crossed — you can figure it out from there,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds is currently looking at commercial flights out of the country for herself and her children — potentially leaving behind her husband, who is a middle school principal.