HINGHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - The evacuation of Americans in the Middle East is ramping up, with some among those on the way back home after being stranded for days due to the fighting.
Since Saturday, more than 17,000 Americans have been able to return home – but one South Shore woman is still stuck and said Thursday morning that conditions were getting worse.
Hingham native Stacey Schuhwerk and her son Tyler were on vacation at an art museum when it all started; they were forced to take shelter in Qatar after Iran launched a series of retaliatory strikes in response to the U.S. and Israel’s attack Saturday.
The pair were making a stop in Qatar on the way back from a trip to the Seychelles. Schuhwerk said they checked the state department website before they left and the threat level was listed as low.
Schuhwerk, who was finally able to get in touch with some local lawmakers yesterday, said the conflict appeared to be escalating in her area – with no evacuation plan in place.
“It felt very much this morning like things escalated,” she said around 5:30 a.m. EST. “It was about an hour and 20 minutes ago, we heard a lot of heavy, incoming missiles. We saw them exploding overhead. The building shook.”
Other Americans have been able to find ways out of the region, getting the help they need from both governmental and non-governmental organizations.
“It just feels so much like we’ve been abandoned,” Schuhwerk said.
(Copyright (c) 2025 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)