"We were worried we would be stuck there for a long time. There were no ports, no airports working, there was no way out of Lebanon," said Ramon Jerbat from Victoria, Australia.

Tiny Cyprus is struggling to deal with the crisis and has appealed for more help from its European Union partners.

Help has also come from Cyprus's arch rival Turkey, which threw open its Mediterranean port of Mersin to take in Canadian, American and Swedish evacuees.

Locked in a decades-old diplomatic row, Turkey and the internationally recognised Greek Cypriot government of Cyprus have no diplomatic relations.

"We are working at a capacity of about 1,000 people a day," Canadian ambassador to Ankara Yves Brodeur told Reuters.

Evacuees plucked from Lebanon by U.S. naval vessels and helicopters praised their rescuers' efficiency and kindness.

"I have to say everyone in the navy was incredible. They gave so much more than we expected. They carried our luggage, they gave us food, they did everything for us," said Rosana Ayoub, 22, a medical student from California.

The Pentagon said eight of nine U.S. ships slated to take part in the evacuation were now on the scene.

About 1,000 Americans were taken to a massive "camp-bed city" set up on a fairground in the Cypriot capital, Nicosia. Many were angry at not being told how long they would stay.

"They told me we might be able to leave tomorrow, or perhaps in a week," said Nejat Salah, a 37-year-old photographer from Los Angeles who held her daughter by the hand.

"If it's going to be like this here in Cyprus, perhaps I should start looking for a way to go back to Lebanon."