American tourist stranded after volcano eruption sparks mass flight cancellations

FIRST ON FOX: An American traveler's vacation in Sicily turned into a travel nightmare after volcanic activity from Mount Etna disrupted flights and left her scrambling to find another route back to New York.

Julie Sagoskin, editor-in-chief of Park Magazine in New York City, told Fox News Digital that she arrived in Sicily through Catania International Airport on Aug.

1 and spent more than a week traveling around the Italian island.

The trouble began when it was time to return home Aug.

10.

Sagoskin said her flight from Catania was canceled amid ongoing volcanic activity.

CARIBBEAN HOT SPOT GRIPPED BY WATER CRISIS, AND TOURISTS SCRAMBLE TO RESCHEDULE PLANS "Right when we arrived at the airport, we did get a notice that our flight was canceled," Sagoskin said.

She said another traveler in her group who had reached the airport earlier described the scene as "total chaos." Sagoskin's group knew volcanic activity was affecting travel .

Friends who had planned to fly out two days earlier had their flight canceled and returned to stay with the group, she said.

Sagoskin hoped conditions would improve by her scheduled departure.

VACATION NIGHTMARE UNFOLDS AS FERRY PASSENGERS BATTLE SEASICKNESS AT ISLAND HOT SPOT Instead, she found herself weighing whether to wait for flights to resume or find another way off the island.

"You're in a foreign country, first of all," Sagoskin said.

"It's obviously a big ... natural disaster.

So there's nothing anybody can do about this." The cancellation came amid widespread disruption at Catania's airport .