this is bbc news, i'm martine croxall. the headlines at 11:00pm: overwhelming destruction in barbuda, as hurricane irma continues its deadly rampage across the caribbean. and now, there is another hurricane coming up behind it. britain's relief effort is under way to the british overseas territories affected. irma is now heading for florida, where those who can are leaving. others are hunkering down and hoping for the best. and on newsnight, downing street defends its response to hurricane irma, amid criticism it did not do enough for its territories in the caribbean. good evening and welcome to bbc news. hurricane irma has torn across the caribbean, leaving death and

destruction in its wake. so far, at least 19 people have been killed and more than a million affected. the massive storm, one of the most powerful atlantic hurricanes ever recorded, is still passing through the caribbean, and is forecast to hit the united states on saturday. and there is another hurricane coming up behind irma in the atlantic. jose has strengthened to a category four, driving winds of 125mph. forecasters warn it could strengthen still further. our correspondent laura bicker is the first journalist to reach barbuda, already devastated by irma. the islanders have raced to evacuate to neighbouring antigua before hurricanejose makes landfall. the island of barbuda was once a caribbean paradise. now, it is lost. hurricane irma has reduced it to rubble. homes are unrecognisable. the ruins lie scattered, torn and ripped apart. having survived the worst

storm in living memory, and knowing another is on the way, people are exhausted, hungry, and just desperate to leave. i don't know... i'm just waiting to get evacuated from here, and then i'm going to come back and try and salvage something, and help. i don't know. my whole life is here, so... we're not coping, we are definitely not coping. everybody will tell you the same — they're not coping. everyone is in the same situation, and nobody can help one another. the core of the hurricane carved a cruel and deadly path through these streets. a two—year—old died, drowned as her mother tried to move her to safer ground. but, incredibly, the rest of the people on this island survived the storm's wrath. don't worry, we're going to get you off the island, and we're going to get you to safety,

and you'll be taken care of. the prime minister has travelled from neighbouring antigua to provide some reassurance. be patient, we're going to get you all off the island very soon. he knows this is a race against time before hurricanejose arrives, in just a few hours. we heard him haggling for every boat, helicopter or plane, to help with the evacuation. can it land here, though? but fear starts to spread that not everyone will get out in time. don't worry. this woman has just been told she doesn't have a place on the next boat. the sheer, horrifying scale of the devastation here means that barely a building is salvageable. that means that the whole island will have to be rebuilt, and the government has already admitted it simply doesn't have the money. the hope is that the funds will come from somewhere. we're hoping that, you know, friendly governments and international partners will step up to the plate and assist us. they should not see this as a form of, let's say,

the prime minister and the people of antigua and barbuda coming with a begging bowl, cap in hand. this is a disaster, a national disaster. the fragments of people's lives now lie in ruins. they can only hope that, one day, they will once again call this island home. but for now, they must leave by any means possible, including this towed barge. and they don't know when they will return. laura bicker, bbc news, barbuda. the government has sent three raf flights with aid to the british overseas territories in the caribbean. a ship from the royal fleet auxiliary is now travelling to the british virgin islands, where a state of emergency has been declared. nick bryant reports from nassau, in the bahamas. the turks and caicos, where the palm trees that usually attract people to these islands reeled under the violent onslaught of hurricane irma — a storm people here had been tracking through satellite images.

a monster hurricane that looked terrifying from space. now, a horrifying, on—the—ground reality. picture—postcard holiday destinations like the british virgin islands, pummelled by 160mph winds. this uk territory has now declared a state of emergency. the bahamas are starting to be blasted. the only sightseeing this morning, from the relative safety of the balcony, watching the approaching storm. old imperial buildings that have stood for centuries in this former british colony are braced, shuttered, prepared for the worst. elton smith had onlyjust finished rebuilding his business from the last hurricane that caused such devastation, less than a year ago. this is one of the worst storms in living memory. so, you know, you've got to get as much together as you can, and plan for the worst, hope for the best. there are five low—lying islands in the archipelago, which the authorities are particularly concerned about, which is why the government here has ordered the biggest evacuation in the history of the bahamas.

but there are fears already for people who have stayed behind, people who have defied those evacuation orders, people who believe they can ride out this storm. in hurricane—hit st martin, this natural disaster has been exacerbated by the man—made problem of looting. which is why, in the dutch part of this territory, the streets are being patrolled by troops who could be helping the relief operation. as for britain, it has stepped up its aid effort, following criticism it has been slow to respond. raf planes carrying equipment are now on their way, and the government says it is planning for the longer—term. what will be the reconstruction needs for these islands in the future? what support will they need, and what can we give? and we remain committed to ensure that that long—term work is done, and that reconstruction work is done, and we provide the support necessary. so far, it is small caribbean islands like st martin that are being hit, by winds

with the power to hurl containers through the air. but, all the time, irma is barrelling towards the american mainland, threatening destruction on a much larger scale. nick bryant, bbc news, the bahamas. iamjoined by i am joined by a representative of the us department of customs and border protection. welcome to bbc news. tell us about the rescue effo rts news. tell us about the rescue efforts you have been involved in. thank you for having me. currently at customs, we are engaged in operations with our black hawk equipped with medical care, rescue capabilities, and essentially what we are doing as we are supporting ongoing relief and rescue efforts in the us virgin islands, as well on a limited basis as the british virgin islands. 50 who needed limited basis as the british virgin islands. so who needed to be rescued, and why? well, we have

received a report of two british subjects on the island, which is pa rt subjects on the island, which is part of the british virgin islands. two females, one with massive head injuries and the other with minor head injuries. they were in an isolated pocket of the island where there was no assistance available, so we there was no assistance available, so we went in with a black hawk and we lowered a medic and another specialist to stabilise both patients, bring them back aboard a helicopter and fly them all the way back to a level one trauma centre in sanjuan, back to a level one trauma centre in san juan, porter rico. back to a level one trauma centre in san juan, porter rico. it is amazing you manage to find the person who is at risk with all the devastation caused —— puerto rico. at risk with all the devastation caused -- puerto rico. the storm had initially already passed, however, it was relatively calm. we were at the end of our mission, kind of low on fuel, and we had to go in and extra ct on fuel, and we had to go in and extract both of the patients at that time. what made it really difficult,

besides the low fuel, was the other destruction and debris. every time we tried to get closer for assessment, just a massive amount of destruction and debris posed a danger to the helicopter so we decided to do a high hoist rescue from 80 feet. we can see a photograph of you hanging out of that helicopter. i mean, having that aerial view of the island, how much was left? you know, it looked like a quintessential war zone. just to painta quintessential war zone. just to paint a picture for you, those islands generally are deep, lush, green, beautiful islands with a backdrop of clear blue ocean. flying over them, it isjust backdrop of clear blue ocean. flying over them, it is just after devastation. there is not a single leaf on any tree. it is complete destruction, and it is reallyjust ha rd to destruction, and it is reallyjust hard to describe with words alone. what is the weekend likely to bring for your? well, we were watching the

storm coming in bounds, jose, so thatis storm coming in bounds, jose, so that is on our mind right now. a lot of people are without basic facilities, so with the storm coming in and not having any shelter for them, that could pose a really greater risk than we have already. we are being proactive by bringing supplies in, what water to isolate communities in the us virgin islands, and we are just waiting for the call to expand our relief and search and rescue efforts within the us virgin islands or any other municipalities or areas that need oui’ municipalities or areas that need our assistance. thank you very much for telling us about your work, and i hope you have a safe we can. thank you. you are welcome. thank you very much. florida is next in line to be hit by hurricane irma. despite being downgraded to a category four storm, warnings have been issued that the hurricane will devastate parts of the state. the department of homeland security have said those who haven't managed to evacuate the area have to be prepared to be without power and water for days.

that is one of my messages, it is not a tough love message, it is just a message of clarity and honesty. at some point people are going to be on their own, so to speak, for a period of time during which the flooding and the rain and the wind bear down on them. and they need to be prepared, if they are in that path and have ta ken prepared, if they are in that path and have taken some action to get themselves in a less dangerous position, to be ready for at least a 72 hour period, that would be my advice, for them to have enough food, water and shelter before the government can get back in. 58 have been killed in what has been described as the strongest earthquake to hit mexico in a century. the quake had a magnitude of 8.2, and struck off the pacific coast. sophie long has more. daylight revealed the destruction the most powerful quake to hit mexico in decades had delivered. in less than a minute, yucatan‘s town hall was reduced to rubble. at least 17 of its

citizens were killed. translation: it was all horrific. everything collapsed, everything. the truth — i have no words to explain what happened. look at my home, everything is destroyed. this is the moment it hit a bowling alley in chiapas, the closest state to the quake's at epicentre. 600 miles away, the tremors rocked mexico city. as people pick through the remnants of their lives, there are fears that there could be more strong aftershocks to come. translation: so far, there have been 65 aftershocks. the strongest was magnitude 6.1. however, it's possible that, over the next 2a hours, we could see a shock that's as strong

as the earthquake. this is a country used to earthquakes, but not of this magnitude. it has left families devastated, and infrastructure destroyed. sophie long, bbc news. now it is time for newsnight, with emily maitlis. this is a storm of absolutely historic destructive potential. i ask everyone in the storm's path to be vigilant and heed all recommendations from government officials and law enforcement. a race against time to get out of the way. 20 million in florida are told they may need to leave their homes roads are packed as many try to flee. hurricane irma is due to hit the state within the next 2a hours. we're on the florida coast to see what they're telling their citizens there. if you are in one of those evacuation zones it is entirely too dangerous and you are checking your life in your hands. and we'll hear from the caribbean island of barbuda. it's already felt the full force of the storm — the island's been flattened. we'll ask the head of the red cross

there if they'll have to start again from scratch. and our political editor, nick watt, is hearing growing political criticism of the uk government's disaster response. why are our prisons so full of young black men and women? is it racism, unconscious bias orjust a failure of the system? david lammy tells newsnight the criminaljustice system has been complacent. and on the eve of north korea's national day, we report from the other side of the border. the dissidents who are no longer scared to express what they feel about the great leader. he just tried to slice a portrait of kim jong—un with a knife and the south korean police swooped in and took it away. good evening. donald trump spoke straight to camera this evening to warn of the absolutely historic

destructive potential of the hurricane on his doorstep. "it is of epic proportion" he tweeted. "perhaps bigger than we have ever seen". the president is used to pulling out the superlatives. this time though it may well be deserved. hurricane irma is expected to hit the us this weekend and the authorities are expecting devastation. it is only the third category 5 hurricane america has seen in the last 170 years. when the storm hits, the emergency services have told people in the florida keys, don't call 9/11. we won't be able to help. more from florida injust a moment. but first, to the carribbean, much of which lies wrecked in the wake of the hurricane. the british virgin islands have been declared a state of emergency, turks and caicos island were pummelled and declared a national shutdown. these are the pictures today from the island of barbuda. 60% of its 1600 inhabitants are reportedly homeless.