ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Sitting on a bench in St. Petersburg looking out over Tampa Bay, Liat Paradise says she feels safe but worried.

Sunday evening she landed in Tampa on a Project Dynamo rescue flight — only a few hours earlier, she had been in Tel Aviv, Israel. 

What You Need To Know

  • A plane carrying nearly 300 Americans evacuating from Israel landed in Tampa on Sunday 

  • Project Dynamo led the rescue efforts 

  • The flight follows Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' executive order authorizing funds for flights to bring Americans back to the U.S.

  • To learn more about the recent rescue flight, click here

“For Israelis to say that it is serious, it’s like 'OK, something is going on here,'" said Paradise. 

She had lived in St. Petersburg for a few years but moved to Tel Aviv at the beginning of 2023. 

When Hamas militants invaded, she said the sirens began to sound. 

“We had sirens in Tel Aviv," she said. "In Minnesota when there are sirens it is a tornado siren, but there it is usually for rockets coming."

After a few days, she knew she had to leave and return to the U.S. 

“Yeah, we kept trying to book other flights — everything was getting canceled left and right, sold out," Paradise said. "It was more complicated because I had my dog to try and get out of there. It was really uncertain — really, really the whole thing felt so uncertain.”

Friends and family were doing all they could to help get her out, but she said nothing was working. But then a Florida connection turned into a saving grace. 

"I found project Dynamo through several of my best friends from here in Florida," Paradise said. "So my best friends were actually able to rescue me from way over there."

She boarded the Project Dynamo contracted plane with close to 300 others, carrying just a few bags and her dog, Aloha. 

Even though she is back and safe, Paradise said she still feels torn. 

"You have people flying back to Israel to serve and be with their country — then you have people trying to escape Israel," she said. "There was a whole mixture of reactions, and I think it is important to be compassionate to all of it. Yeah it was definitely hard, really hard leaving so quickly. I am still really worried for everyone out there.”

She is thankful for Project Dynamo, and to all who helped her and Aloha return. 

"Angels on Earth," said Paradise. "For me the most heartwarming part of the process, how many people here in the states were trying so hard to help, it was like, so many people I didn’t even know were like looking for flight information and calling people that they knew.”

Paradise said she is staying with friends in Florida and plans to visit her family who are in other states. 

Project Dynamo led the rescue effort after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Executive Order 23-208 which allocated funds "to allow Florida to carry out logistical, rescue and evacuation operations to keep its residents safe."