New Jersey families describe what it was like during rocket attack in Israel
TENAFLY, N.J. -- There's a deep connection between Israel and families in New York and New Jersey.
Many local residents were there when Hamas hit with surprise attacks, and some still haven't been able to get out.
CBS New York spoke with impacted families on Monday night.
"When you looked at all the flights, it was canceled, canceled, canceled, delayed," said Lauri Bader of Englewood, New Jersey.
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Bader said she is grateful to be back in the Garden State after not knowing if she and her daughter would get on a flight home. They traveled to Tel Aviv for a wedding, but one day into their trip everything changed.
"It was quite scary at the time. We didn't know. It woke us up out of our sleep. She heard an explosion. I didn't hear that. I just heard a lot of sirens and then there was a very loud announcement at the hotel, and it was everyone go to your safe room," Bader said.
With the situation worsening, she said she knew they had to come home.
"One of the things that made it so difficult to leave was feeling conflicted that as Americans we can leave and come home to the safety of our home and the Israelis live with this every day and it's really heartbreaking for them," Bader said.
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"It's very desolate here, and it's ... it's ... it's very eerie and scary, because it's so desolate," said Sandra Greenberg of Teaneck, New Jersey.
The Greenbergs haven't been able to get on a flight and are still in Jerusalem, staying with family.
"There's a thought that in this time there may be copycat-types of events, and so people are just on guard and heightened anxiety," Sandra Greenberg said.
For them, and many families in our area who have strong ties to Israel, the pain is felt deeply.
"There's not one person you will find who doesn't know somebody where doesn't have a connection to somebody who was either killed, hurt, or taken away," said Jason Shames, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey.
When asked what his overall message is, Shames said, "Stay in touch with people. Advocate, participate in rallies and financially support. Israel could not stand alone."
The Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey and other organizations plan to host a rally at Kaplen JCC on the Palisades on Tuesday evening to show their continued support for Israel.