You see people moving down one staircase after another, going deeper underground. Above, air raid sirens blare, warning of impending attacks. 

South Florida LGBTQ journalist Al Ferguson with It’s Happening Out TV is inside, reporting from a place he never imagined: a bomb shelter.

“I am surprised. I’m fairly panicked,” he says during one of the videos. 

The fear is belied by a calm appearance. People in the stairwell, and in what appears to be something akin to an underground parking lot, are staring at their phones watching news.

Friday’s air raids by Iran are retaliation for Israeli strikes on its attacks on Iranian nuclear infrastructure and leadership.

“There is a Category One alert going off at the hotel,” Ferguson says as he makes his way down a stairwell. Later, he texted about a third alarm. “About one minute ago, every phone in Israel announced the alert. The alert notice says ‘Pending Attack, Category One.’”

Ferguson is in Israel with a group of other foreign journalists on a tour sponsored by the Israeli government. He was focused on covering Prides and how attitudes towards Israel’s LGBTQ community vary from one area to another.

Prides have been canceled, and Ferguson says airports are closed. The situation is fluid. After about three hours, he texted, saying it had been quiet for about an hour. Ferguson does not yet know how or when he will be able to leave Israel.

Screenshot via OutSFL Live, YouTube.