U.S. student: Evacuation comes with rumors

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Joanne Nucho just finished packing 30 pounds of her life into a bag.

An American Ph.D. student studying at the American University in Beirut, Nucho does not know when or where, but she plans to leave her dormitory room within the next few hours at a moment’s notice.

Nucho is one of several thousand Americans caught in the crossfire between the militant group Hezbollah located in Lebanon and the Israeli army, awaiting further instruction from the U.S. State Department to evacuate.

So far the department has told her little about Tuesday's evacuation — hours before the operation is planned begin.

She will either leave by helicopter — which has already removed 64 U.S. citizens from harm's way — or by a 750-passenger cruise ship, which was hired by the government to help evacuate the estimated 5,000 citizens seeking rescue.

Nucho does not even know what she's allowed to pack. The State Department told her she's allowed a 30-pound duffel bag, but she has heard rumors that she will not be allowed to a camera or her laptop — her main method of communicating with relatives over the last year.

"The bombs are very loud and close right now, but we're just sticking together and are helping each other feel strong... Lebanese and Americans alike," Nucho said in an e-mail exchange with MSNBC.com Monday. "I feel very calm and am certain that they will be coming soon."

Rumors abound
Word Monday that the United States was sending a ship to evacuate U.S. citizens to neighboring Cyprus brought relief for Americans caught in the cross fire of a brutal fight between Islamic militants and Israel.

Limited information and rumors, however, have raised a new set of fears.

Nucho said there was talk that Americans would have to pay a $300 evacuation fee and be left to sleep on the streets of Cyprus.

"We are grateful for the U.S. government's evacuation plans, but there are a lot of rumors floating around," Nucho, 27, said in an e-mail exchange earlier with MSNBC.com.

A U.S. Embassy statement instructed American citizens to be ready to leave and said further instructions would be publicized by local media and on the embassy’s Web site. The embassy said each person would be allowed to carry one bag weighing no more than 30 pounds.

"As of now, the talk of sleeping on streets and not being able to put laptops in the one bag we do take with us are unconfirmed rumors that we are desperately hoping are untrue," Nucho said. "However, we do know for a fact that the French have just left and they were allowed to take entire suitcases, whereas we will only be able to take a tote bag."

Nucho added that all evacuees have signed promissory notes pledging to pay the U.S. back for safe passage to Cyprus, plus interest. Once in Cyprus, she said the government would not pay for hotel fees nor a return flight to the U.S.

State Department info
In statements e-mailed to Americans in Lebanon and posted on the embassy's Web site, the State Department has stressed "that the U.S. government does not provide no-cost transportation but does have the authority to provide repatriation loans to those in financial need. For the portion of your trip directly handled by the U.S. Government we will ask you to sign a promissory note and we will bill you at a later date."

The department added that "we will also work with commercial aircraft to ensure that they have adequate flights to help you depart Cyprus and connect to your final destination."

NBC News reported that it is standard procedure for the State Department to charge citizens fees for evacuations.

In a separate statement, the State Department asked Americans who wish to depart Lebanon to prepare travel documents such as a U.S. passport, birth certificate and other civil documents, including marriage certificates and medical records. 

"We give priority to U.S. citizens but will consider departure assistance to Legal Permanent Residents accompanying a U.S. citizen immediate family member. One guardian may accompany an American citizen minor, even if that guardian is not an American," the statement said.

The statement also said pets would not be evacuated.

The department urged citizens not to try to leave the country through Syria, saying that if they traveled on major roads they could be "subject to an air strike at any time."

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