MIAMI — There is an urgent scramble going on abroad as Americans are trying to leave the Middle East amid ongoing fighting with Iran.

Lee Aloni is from South Florida, currently hunkering down inside her condo’s bomb shelter north of Tel Aviv, where she is visiting family.

“We’re hearing the booms, we’re getting the alerts all the time,” she said. “We’re just waiting, keep checking the U.S. embassy online.”

Thousands of stranded Americans have been urged to leave the region as soon as possible, despite a lack of flights.

The U.S. State Department says it’s working fast to send charter and military planes to get Americans out.

Wednesday afternoon, the department urged U.S. citizens in Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar to register online and to be ready.

“When you receive that call about a bus, about a flight, please be ready to go,” said a U.S. State Department spokesperson. “We are proactively reaching out to find additional options every single second.”

Multiple countries have closed their airspace since Saturday, forcing flights to divert or turn back mid-air, leading to larger impacts on travelers across the world.

Americans Todd Goldberg and Jonathan Bratter are part of the Jewish National Fund, USA’S Brotherhood mission to Israel, giving back to families of hostages and raising money.

“We are visiting hospitals, rehab centers,” said Bratter.

They are watching developments closely.

“I knew that there was the risk of this happening when we planned the trip, and getting ready to leave and I had made the decision that I’m going regardless,” said Goldberg.

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