A cushion against the bombs before NZ woman escapes

A New Zealand woman has spoken of her harrowing flight from war-ravaged Lebanon and the people she left behind.

In a diary published today by the Herald, Claire Brickell described the foreboding that engulfed Beirut as it prepared for an Israeli onslaught, then the bombing campaign and desperate attempts to flee as war erupted in the Middle East.

The teacher from Riverhead, Auckland, described lying in bed feeling powerless as bombs fell nearby and bombers trundled over the city: "Back to bed and I have a heightened awareness of any sound.

"I am not scared or frightened, just unnerved and feeling powerless.

"If a bomb is going to drop on me there is nothing I can do about it."

>> Read Claire Brickell's diary

Later she sat with an anxious Lebanese woman in an apartment in Beirut as Israeli warplanes soared overhead.

"We sit on chairs in the small hallway by the kitchen where there are no windows, each with a cushion on our knee [where] we are to put our faces should we need to.

"Maha has been through all this before and is finding it difficult to sit still. The planes start, they are buzzing the city, going round and round.

"It sounds like a huge swarm of bees and it goes on for 45 minutes. It is extremely unnerving as you are not sure whether there is going to be an explosion or whether the planes will just fly away.

"I ask Maha why she thinks the planes are buzzing: 'Just to piss us off and let us know that they are superior to us'. "

Mrs Brickell is among the New Zealanders who have escaped from the Middle East, where a total of 404 people in Lebanon and 41 Israelis have been killed in the conflict, ignited by Hizbollah's capture of two Israeli soldiers on July 12.

Evacuees who returned to New Zealand told of their relief in leaving.

But one, Michael Moore, also described feelings of guilt, saying people were still having to sit "under the bombs".

About 40 New Zealanders remained in Lebanon, with nine wanting to leave.

The rest were either staying, or were undecided, Foreign Affairs said.

Mrs Brickell escaped Beirut to Jordan in a convoy of World Bank and International Finance Corporation diplomats organised by her daughter, Julia.

She wrote: "I get to the hotel room and I break down.

"I weep for myself, but mostly for all those who cannot leave Beirut.

"I have met some lovely people whose lives have been turned upside down and my heart goes out to them."