Visiting New York City Council members got more than a description of how Israelis live with rocket attacks from Gaza. They experienced one.

Council Speaker Christine Quinn said that the delegation of eleven was in the office of the mayor of Sderot, when the town alarm went off, warning of an incoming rocket. She said, “The mayor stood up and said, ‘there’s a rocket coming, everybody has to leave.'”

The visitors were hustled to a safe place in the town hall. Afterward, they visited the place where the rocket exploded, between a house and a clinic. Quinn said the explosion blew out most of the windows in the clinic.

The trip, sponsored by Jewish organizations, was meant to give the New York council members a better understanding of life in Israel. Quinn said it went beyond that.