ASHLAND, Neb. (KMTV) — "We literally took the last train as we were being told the city was being put on lock down," Amanj Habibi said.
It's been a crazy few weeks for him and his wife. They were going to visit family in Hubei, China when it turned into a trip they'll never forget.
"From our understanding, it was just a normal like outbreak of a flu that was going on," Habibi said. We didn't know the cases was going to explode, that government would take these drastic measures."
The coronavirus had people in a panic, according to Habibi. It had spread to thousands of people, killing hundreds.
They caught their train and made it out of Wuhan, China, but that didn't change much as they were met with another lock down.
"We didn't really talk to anybody else, " Habibi said. "We were kind of just keeping our distance. Everybody had face masks on."
After being on lock down for three weeks in China, it was time to journey back to America.
"The plane was actually the worst part of the journey, there was no windows, you can't see what's going on outside, you can't tell what time of day it is... you can't tell how many hours have past," Habibi said.
He adds the cargo plane was cold and loud.
"There were times when people were super confused. There was no Chinese translators. More than 75% of our plane was Chinese speaking people," Habibi said.
They landed in a few different cities, dropping off evacuees until they finally landed in Omaha and were bused to Camp Ashland after traveling more than 48 hours
"You can tell some people are taking their temperatures," Habibi said. "Some people seemed to have headaches and you're like, 'oh could these people have the virus or are they just having headaches,' you don't know."
He and his wife, along with 55 others will be quarantined at In Nebraska for the next two weeks.
They are confined to a room for most of the day. He says, as for communicating with the other evacuees, it's not worth the risk.
"You really don't know," Habibi said. "You really don't know what symptoms people have."
Despite all of this, he and his wife are appreciative to everyone that's helped them get out and back to the U.S.
"Honestly, it's hard for me to think about it," It does seem like a movie and I'm still taking it all in and it doesn't resonate with me yet."
