MILWAUKEE — A Wisconsin mother and her two young children were unable to secure a seat on a charter plane used to evacuate more than 200 people from Wuhan, China on Jan. 29.
They now have Congressman Glenn Grothman on their side, working with the state department to try and figure out what can be done to help them find their way home to Neenah, Wisconsin.
"The State Department is having a meeting as we speak this morning deciding what they want to do with American citizens who want to leave China," said Grothman in a phone interview Wednesday morning. He was expecting to learn more information about how the United States plans to evacuate any remaining Americans who want to return home from Wuhan. He said he expected that information to be shared with him by Wednesday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Sam Roth, the husband of Daisy Roth and their children Abigail and Adalynn who are all three stuck in Wuhan, is at home in Neenah. He is anxiously awaiting the return of his family.
He says Daisy and the kids went to Wuhan to celebrate the Lunar New Year with family. They knew about the Coronavirus outbreak but thought it would subside. Soon after their arrival in China, Wuhan was locked down and travel became difficult, said Roth.
On Wednesday, a charter plane carrying more than 200 people including U.S. employees and private citizens was flown from Wuhan, China to Anchorage, Alaska. Then, that same plane full of evacuees was flown to March Air Reserve Base in southern California. Officials say the evacuees will be kept there for several days and the CDC says the everyone on-board was evaluated at each stop along their journey back to the U.S.
Congressman Grothman said he would be disappointed if the State Department couldn't come up with a plan to help the remaining Americans evacuate Wuhan on Wednesday.
"Obviously its a crisis. People are worried, people are worried about their loved ones," said Representative Rothman.
A wait full of anxiety for Wisconsin's Roth family as they wait to return from their Lunar New Year Getaway.
