When government resources did not come to their aid soon enough, some stranded US citizens in Lebanon managed to get out on their own at considerable risk:
Shayna Silverstein and her friends jumped into expensive taxis and sped from Beirut to Damascus, preferring to dodge bombs and bribe border officials rather than wait for the U.S. government to evacuate them. (…)
Mandy Terc, 28, couldn't wait. Last week, the Chicago native kept checking the Web site of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut for information about evacuations. But there were no updates, she said. So, she decided Saturday to join Silverstein and six other Americans fleeing Lebanon.
The trip from Beirut to Damascus normally cost $10. They each paid $200 and piled into a gray Mercedes taxi that sped to the border. "We had to put our faith in our taxi driver," Terc said. "We were very nervous."
They passed an area that had been bombed only an hour earlier. "You could smell it in the air," Silverstein said. They took back roads, avoiding any possible military targets, until finally reaching the Syrian border, where hundreds of other people were trying to flee Lebanon.
Reader comment: anonymous says,
A grandfather describes how his 16-year-old granddaughter finessed her way (and her little sister's) onto a Greek war ship and out of war-torn Lebanon. Link (Scroll down to the post titled 'Hope Springs Internal…' then scroll back up to the second half of 'Little Doug Wins a Town… And an Update on the Girls' for the happy conclusion.)
