ATLANTA, Ga. — The war in the Middle East is impacting Americans who live and work in the area as airspace remains closed, including one Marietta couple.
Michael and Kayla Coons live in Iraq with their two children doing independent humanitarian aid work.
They said they live close to the military base there and can see the mountains in Iran from their home in Northern Iraq.
Kayla said despite signing up for all of the advisories and emergency alerts, they did not know what was going on until they saw the interceptors in the sky in the middle of the day Saturday.
They’ve heard explosions and seen drone strikes too close for comfort, one in particular put them on edge.
“That was very chaotic and a lot scarier than seeing them intercepted in the sky. It felt a lot closer, it felt a lot heavier and when it’s nightfall, there’s that tension as well. You aren’t able to see as much of what’s happening and and it definitely made a lot more of the fear and kind of the gravity of the situation a lot more real,” said Kayla.
Kayla said while they love the work they do assisting refugees from Iraq and neighboring nations, this is a scary time. She and Michael both say the warning from the State Department to Americans to leave the Middle East came too late.
“The issue with the warnings they sent out were that they happened after the fact, like I said we had no warning from the American government until after the fact and airspace is closed and so they’re suggesting evacuation via commercial routes but airspace is closed, there’s really no way to get out except via land borders and we’re surrounded by other countries that are at unrest,” she said.
As of right now, major Middle-Eastern based airlines like Qatar Airways say they are suspending flights until Wednesday or Thursday, making it difficult for anyone to leave the area.
The U.S. State Department is helping American citizens organize charter and commercial flights leaving the region.
“It has been a point of issue for a lot of us operating in these Middle Eastern nations as Americans that the government didn’t give forewarning and after the fact is telling us to leave when we no longer have that opportunity,” said Kayla.
Now, the family said they are following local guidance which includes sheltering in place and possibly getting out of the large city center.
Michael said they are trying not to panic and stay vigilant as President Donald Trump said this conflict could last four to five weeks.
“We love the U.S., we love Iraq, we love all of these people who have need and we are just doing our best to just serve them and to take care of them and to love them as best as we can,” said Michael. “This is a time not to panic, but a time to be vigilant, and a time to act. A time to say ‘there’s need, what can we do to help solve this need?’”
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