HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Nearly three hundred Americans touched down in Tampa on Sunday night after being stuck in Israel. In total, 270 people landed at TPA, which included 91 children and four dogs.
ABC Action News spoke to Marriane Hulu as she and her family got off the flight. She grew up in Miami but has been raising her family in Tel Aviv. She said she felt mixed emotions when she landed in Tampa.
“I’m very thankful, but I feel very guilty for leaving because I have a lot of friends there,” Hulu said.
Florida and federal government offer dueling Israel rescue operations
She said her kids' safety was the reason she ultimately decided to leave Israel. Hulu explained her family could hear the sounds of war outside the walls of their home.
“We hear a lot of booms going on. I haven’t seen any physically per se rockets, but we have some shrapnel all over the place,” Hulu said.
The 270 people flew in on a private charter, which was all made possible by Project Dynamo.
“It’s not just go to the airport, we have a free plane. It is incredibly dangerous. It’s incredibly scary all these people have taken missile fire. It’s dicey, and they’re not soldiers. This is their first rescue, This is my 602nd, a little bit different," Bryan Stern with Project Dynamo said.
The flight to Florida was state-funded. The governor signed an executive order to free up money for the nonprofit to bring Americans home. Governor DeSantis was on the ground at TPA, greeting people as they got off the plane.
The Florida Division of Emergency Management said there are plans for at least three more flights to return to Tampa this week.
