this is bbc news. i'm annita mcveigh. the headlines at lipm. hurricane irma pounds cuba with winds of more than 150mph. the cuban authorities did try to move large numbers of people out of harm's way, but still many have been left, particularly in the central province. we understand there are many thousands ever people there without power at the moment. as the storm approaches florida, nearly six million people have been told to leave their homes. if you've been ordered to evacuate. you need to leave now. do not wait. evacuate. not tonight, not in an hour, you need to go right now. areas already devastated by irma, like the island of barbuda, now face another threat, the imminent arrival of hurricane jose. the un warns of an unprecedented refugee crisis, after nearly 300,000 rohingya muslims flee from myanmar to bangladesh. and the manchester arena re—opens tonight with a benefit concert,

more than three months after the terrorist attack which killed 22 people. england's cricketers look set to wrap up the series against the west ind yaz. they're chasing 107 for victory in the third test. (and the diplomatic options considered to ease the north korea crisis, in date line london at 4. 30pm good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. hurricane irma is continuing to sweep its way across the caribbean, en route to the us coast, leaving a path of devastation. cuba is the latest island to be hit. the category four storm —

it was category five, the highest, but has eased slightly — made landfall off the north—eastern coast overnight bringing strong winds and heavy rain. communities have lost power and communication is becoming increasingly difficult in more remote areas. the bahamas have largely been spared after the storm changed course. this is irma's trajectory. have been told to evacuate. there's another hurricane approaching the care lean, jose has strengthened to a category four, driving winds of 125mph and forecasters warn that it could strengthen still further. four days after hurricane irma first hit the caribbean, cuba is now feeling the full force

of its deadly winds. gusts of more than 150 miles an hour, blasting these desolate streets in the north. the destruction is going to be terrible and the economic situation is very bad. great international assistance is going to be needed. many houses are old and unstable, but so far it is not clear how much damage it has caused. what is clear, the category four hurricane will track along much of cuba's northern coast, before shifting north to the united states. already, thousands of people have moved away from the cuban coast, including british tourists. in southern florida, the next place expected to be hit by the hurricane, there's already been unprecedented evacuation. more than five million

people ordered to leave. for any people ordered to leave. for any people who've not already started driving out of the area, it's too late, according to the authorities. we have shelters in your community, go to those shelters. you can go to yourfamily, friends, go to those shelters. you can go to your family, friends, go go to those shelters. you can go to yourfamily, friends, go to go to those shelters. you can go to your family, friends, go to those shelters. but we don't want people on the road when this storm starts to hit. this is the destruction that hurricane irma has already caused on some of the islands it's passed over some of the islands it's passed over so far this week. this is barbuda, or what's left of coastline. 92." serresneedeet will era—gt it will take quite some time befole

he rthfekeehiheheee eee hi. a"edee . but we know that whole area took a real battering and of course, irma is still moving along that coastline, causing damage as she goes. as you were saying yesterday, despite the good military infrastructure that there is, the strong military infrastructure in cuba itself, you know, when you've got a natural disaster of these proportions, there's only so much preparation you can do. it's more about, i guess,

what that infrastructure can do to help afterwards. how quickly do you think help will get to the areas where it's needed? well, i think the government's mind is clearly focussed on this and this alone. it's been interesting to watch just how many resources have been pulled from different parts of the country and moved in that direction of the oncoming storm. of course, because of the one—party state that cuba is, it can depend on various different layers of government right down to the street level, if you like. neighboourhood watch associations, they're called cdrs, they'll be turning out and supporting and helping those who are affected. but this goes way beyond that really. i mean, if there is the same sort of devastation that we've seen elsewhere in the caribbean, it will be a clean—up operation, and a sort of salvage operation. one can only think that there are a lot of communities and a lot of worried families all over the island, waiting to hear from that affected stretch.

as irma heads towards florida, the governor of the state has issued this advice to residents. the storm's here. hurricane irma is now impacting our state. south—east florida is experiencing tropical storm force winds and nearly 25,000 people have already lost power. hurricane irma is beginning to batter the florida keys with dangerous winds and continues to remain a catastrophic and life threatening category four storm with winds of 130mph. this is a deadly storm. interstate has never seen anything like this. millions of floridians will see impact with storm surge and life threatening winds. the threat of significant storm surge floating along the east entire west coast of florida has increased. and six to 12 feet, think about that, of impacts above ground level is probable. six

to 12 feet, this will cover your house. if you've seen how storm surge works, it flows in fast, very fast then it flows out. you will not survive all this storm surge. this is a life threatening situation. if you've been ordered to evacuate, you need to leave now. do not wait. evacuate. not tonight, not in an hour. you need to go right now. if you're in an evacuation zone — leave. evacuations are in place more than 5.6 million have been ordered to evacuate. you need to listen to local evacuation orders. if you live in an evacuation zone in south—west nor dark you need to be on the road by noon or find the nearest shelter to avoid life threatening weather. its going to go faster possibly than you are.

these winds are coming. if you're in this area and you're planning to leave and have not done so by noon, do not get on the road. if you're on the west coast trying to go north, i mean, you're going to have a hard time getting out. just remember this: once the storm starts, law enforcement cannot save you. i'm a dad and a grandfather. i love my family more than anything. i cannot imagine life without them. do not put your life or your family's life at risk. right now is the time to do the right thing for you, yourself and your family. school buses are aiding evacuations. please take advantage of this service. if you need to leave and for whatever reason you're unable to leave, and you need help, whether it's fuel, whatever the issue is, called 1—800—342—3557 and we will do everything possible to get you out. jane 0'brien is in miami in florida and joins me now.

residents are preparing for the onslaught of irma. i asked hererlia about that uncompromising message from the governor. he was saying that basically if you're on the west coast, where the hurricane is now heading, if you're not out by noon, don't bother. that's just two hours away. time is really running out here. people are very, very apprehensive. most people who have decided to leave have already left. this is the largest evacuation in the state's history now. but there are some die hards who have decided, for whatever reason, to stick it out. one person who has got out is alex perez. hejoins me now. you're from the florida keys, from key west. why have you decided to leave, because you haven't left before. no, never left through a storm. storms come through and they go by us. nothing happens. this storm is going to hit us and i don't want to be in it. i'd rather be out of it. some of

your relatives are staying. yes, they feel comfortable being inside key west. that's home. you know home of the conks. that's where they love to be. that's where they want to be. it's dangerous down there. just a direct hit there it's not good you know. how worried about them are you. before i go on, a conk is the local name for somebody who lives on the florida keys. how worried are you? i'm very worried. i wouldn't have got out of there if i didn't think it was an issue. everyone, i don't think they realise what's coming towards them. they're in their comfort zone. all the storms that pass by. we have a thing with the reef, our grotto, that's supposed to protect us. it has so far, i'm hoping it still does, but right now, it's not looking too good. ijust think everyone needs to get out of there. there's no need to stick around. where are your children? they've vacated with their grandparents. they're in al—bamament i sent grandparents. they're in al—bamament isent them grandparents. they're in al—bamament i sent them —— alabama. i sent them three days ago, keep them nice and safe out of harm's way. your family

is pretty scattered. are you able to stay in touch? we've been trying the best we can. a lot of people in key we st best we can. a lot of people in key west that were down there, my uncle, my abuela, they were sticking around. we have a commercial fishing business down there. they try to stay because we want to keep everything all in tact, you know, protect the houses. so we left in the middle of the night, i did. everyone's plan was to scatter and get lost when the storm got closer. we don't know what's next from here. i have to try and contact them. one of the things the governor warned about was this incredible storm surge, several feet of water could inundate the keys. what could that do? that could put a lot of houses under water do? that could put a lot of houses underwaterand a lot do? that could put a lot of houses under water and a lot of people swimming and floating in boats and rafts. we have one come through one time, the water was four feet. this is calling for six to ten feet, plus the king tide right now, it will put a lot of water on the island. it will wash away a lot of stuff. good luck. i hope you get to see your kids soon. oh, man, i hope so too.

everyone keep safe. indeed. it's safety that is the priority of this state now. and the prob len is that —— problem is that once this storm starts, no help will come. this is the message we're hearing over and over again. after the storm, yes, but right now, it's time to get into somewhere safe, take shelter and stay put. joining me now from la is sarah thompson whose husband and two friends are missing on the british virgin island of tortola. sarah, thank you very much for joining us. i know that you moved to the british virgin islands six months ago. you left the island for work in la before the hurricane hit. when was the last time you heard from your husband and friends? so i last had direct contact with my husband on wednesday morning at about 12. 30 bbi time, 9. 30 in la. after that the signal dropped out and we've had radio silence from his

phones and from the phones of the people that he was with, our two friends, ever since that time. we have had two very brief messages, one from a tourist‘s mobile phone, communicating a message from one of his friends to say that they are safe. we've had one other message from a satellite phone from an unknown number to say again that they're alive but we have no idea where they are. whether the house is in tact, whether they're in the house or whether they're somewhere away from the effects of the coming storm jose as well. everyone is desperately worried. of course. so you don't know at the point that the hurricane hit whether they were at home or whether they'd made their way to some sort of shelter, is that correct? no, we know at the point that irma hit that they were at our house. what we don't know is what happened after that and whether they we re happened after that and whether they were forced to evacuate the house.

because reports that we're hearing indicate that a lot of people started off in their house and then we re started off in their house and then were forced into a position where they had to evacuate. and the couple of m essa g es they had to evacuate. and the couple of messages that you've received, are you hoping that because of the communication difficulties that your husband, your friends, they've managed to get these people to send a message but they've got no other means of communicating with you, obviously. i'm absolutely hoping that's the position, but without having any knowledge of where they are, where they're staying, whether they're inside, will they're sheltered when we have more horrendous weather coming their way, it's horrendous weather coming their way, its heart breakingly worrying. sarah, are you liaising with any consular officials to try to get assistance from them to find out what is happening and where they are? we've been liaising with officials in both the uk and australia. it's proving very, very

difficult to get any information, particularly out of that part of tortola. there has been no cell phone reception. no—one's had cell phone reception. no—one's had cell phone contact as far as i'm aware with anyone on that part of the island. it's proving very, very difficult and it's proving equally difficult and it's proving equally difficult to understand how the aid, which has been sent to bbi, is going to be brought to the land, brought to be brought to the land, brought to tortola, how urgent assistance, urgent supplies, water, food, medical supplies, all of the basic necessities are going to be brought to people who need them when they're in these very isolated positions, often high up in the hills and away from help and away from people sheltering with children, sheltering with animals. it's impossible to know how that's going to be coordinated, even though the help has — or some of the help has arrived in the locate. locality. even though there's been this defer station caused by hurricane irma, you probably want to try to get

there to look for yourself for your husband and friends, do you? absolutely. it's impossible to see at the moment how it's going to be feasible to get to the islands. it's been impossible to get clearance by airor been impossible to get clearance by air or sea, been impossible to get clearance by airorsea, if you been impossible to get clearance by air or sea, if you want to go, for anyone to help. as for as i know, no—one's been into the island to help from outside the islands since irma hit. sarah, iwish help from outside the islands since irma hit. sarah, i wish you really well with the search for your husband and your friends. i well with the search for your husband and yourfriends. i hope that it husband and yourfriends. i hope thatitis husband and yourfriends. i hope that it is the case that they are fine and they simply can't communicate with you at this moment. we'll keep in touch with you and find out what the progress of your search is. sarah thompson, thank you very much. thank you. i'm joined by the representative of anguila. last time we spoke, irma

had hit and you were telling me about the devastation to the infrastructure on the island. indeed loss of life. what's the latest you know about the situation there? loss of life. what's the latest you know about the situation there ?|j mean, the latest is that the response from the united kingdom's government was both swift and timely. within two hours of the hurricane leaving the island, the secretary of state, borisjohnson, had contacted the chief minister and within 48 hours royal fleet auxiliary mounts bay had arrived beside the island and helped us to reconstruct the hospital and reconnect energy supplies. we're still in a dire situation and there is need for food, still in a dire situation and there is need forfood, water and of course to address sanitation. those are ourtop course to address sanitation. those are our top priorities at present. let's deal with the food, water and sanitation issues. some of the assistance that has come in, are there engineers who are working to try to set up those facilities for

people on the island again? what has happened and we must remember that this is — we've been between two hurricanes. so we had mount bay with us hurricanes. so we had mount bay with us for a matter of hours. six tons ofaid us for a matter of hours. six tons of aid was deposited with us. a lot of aid was deposited with us. a lot of repair work was done very, very swiftly a nd of repair work was done very, very swiftly and efficiently. then they had to move on, as you know our sister islands of bvi and turks and ca icos have sister islands of bvi and turks and caicos have been hit. hurricanejose was hot on the heels of that as well. i'm glad to hear that's now deflected northwards. we are simply suffering from the periphery of that storm. and then in terms of the hospital, which you told me was a very small facility, i think 32 beds. that's correct. has anyone stayed behind to offer assistance, doctors, numberses and so on —— nurses and so on? not as yet. gibraltar has donated assistance. that's winging its way across the

atla ntic that's winging its way across the atlantic now. again, mount bay will return to the island, i understand. we've been given provisions. we are quite resourceful people. we've been using the resources that have been provided to us. that's going to keep people going until a second wave of assistance to the island. which we believe will happen in a number of days, yes. we had been based for another hit today by hurricanejose. people must be beyond relieved at the news that is going to, we understand, miss anguila and many of the islands hit already by irma. no, indeed. 90% of our buildings have been damaged by irma. i'm not sure we could have with stood another hit of that magnitude. all said and done we're grateful that we've been, that we're grateful that we've been, that we're out of its path at present. thank you very much for talking to us thank you very much for talking to us again. i appreciate that. we are seeing that hurricane irma

has been downgraded to a category three. it was at four. downgraded to a category three. it's over the north—east coast of cuba at the moment. but it is expected to strengthen after leaving cuba, which was what we were told earlier, when it had been originally downgraded from five to four. it's thought that as it moves up towards florida, heading over areas of warm water, that it will pick up strength again. irma downgraded to a category three currently. but expected to strengthen again after leaving cubament —— cuba. we are seeing on the afp news agency that five people it says have been killed in the british virgin islands as a result of hurricane irma. another person died in anguila. that fatality we

had been told about earlier this week. so officials revealing these figures. five confirmed fatalities said a statement from the government of the british virgin islands. while a police officer in anguila told afp news agency that a man had been crushed by his house as irma passed through the island. so those are the latest lines we have coming in on the situation in the caribbean. as irma is expected to head towards the coast of florida. the government is going to hold a cobra meeting. chris mason is with me. a big response from the uk with more aircraft heading out today and tomorrow. tell us heading out today and tomorrow. tell us what's expected at that cobra meeting then. yeah, this is the latest gathering of the government's civil contingency committee that gathers in instances like this to

coordinate the response across the british government to what is happening in the caribbean. the meeting due to get under way here at the cabinet office in whitehall a short distance from downing street within the next half an hour or so. we expect to hear from within the next half an hour or so. we expect to hearfrom sir michael fallon the defence secretary shortly after that. the ministry of defence this afternoon have updated us on what they are doing, what they are coordinating. they're calling it operation rumen. they say 300 uk military personnel have been sent to the caribbean, leaving from raf brize norton in 0xfordshire yesterday, on board three aircraft. 0n yesterday, on board three aircraft. on one of those planes was a helicopter, which has been able to be deployed within the caribbean once the main plane had landed. they say in addition to those troops that i was referring to, there are 200 royal marines amongst that contingent. particularly on the

british virgin islands, we hear that the work that they are being asked to perform, specifically from the governor there is particularly around the whole issue of law and order. so we hearfrom the around the whole issue of law and order. so we hear from the ministry of defence that his priority is to restore law and order and to put vital communications in place and also working hard to clear the ru nway to also working hard to clear the runway to make it serviceable so additional aid can make its way to those islands. so that the latest from the ministry of defence. as i say, we expect an update from the defence secretary himself, within the next couple of hours. i guess, the government and the armed forces are recalibrating what they do now slightly given the news thatjose is they do now slightly given the news that jose is expected they do now slightly given the news thatjose is expected to miss the islands already hit by irma. 0bviously islands already hit by irma. obviously it had been thoughtjose would hit those islands as well. if it doesn't, that means they can hopefully make more progress with their work. yeah, i think there was a real sense when i've been speaking to people today and yesterday that when they were looking at those

satellite images that we've seen the bbc weather team reporting, storm after storm heading towards the caribbean that not only would they arrive there and have to deal with what had already happened, but would have to anticipate what was coming and obviously that would affect what they could do in the short—term and add to their work load in the longer term too. now they say here in whitehall that the ministry of defence and downing street are obviously keeping a close eye on what is going on and calibrating their response to take account of that. there'll be a keen awareness of the news you were just reporting a few minutes ago, the fact that so many people have requested as much help as possible and some have contacted the bbc saying that they've not managed to get hold of people in authority as quickly as they might have hoped. i think we can expect michael fallon to be very aware of that as this meeting starts. and working out exactly what might happen next in terms of further deployments of aid and troops and aircraft and other

resources in the coming days. ok. chris, thank you very much. waiting for that cobra meeting to ta ke waiting for that cobra meeting to take place and of course, there's plenty more on hurricane irma. you can get the latest on our website: i think, we can talk to someone who's on the british virgin islands now. we've just been who's on the british virgin islands now. we'vejust been hearing who's on the british virgin islands now. we've just been hearing about a number of fatalities, five fatalities on the british virgin islands as a result of hurricane irma. nick, what more can you tell us irma. nick, what more can you tell us about the situation there? this storm, which we heard, we were under a hurricane warning, i believe or tropical storm warning. i heard that's just recently been lifted. so

really people are still trying to gather supplies. some of the stores have opened. some of the roads have opened. things are a bit better on account of the community pulling together. i imagine this is a time when people are really trying to help each other. we heard about reports of looting on some islands. are you aware of anything like that happening there, concerns over the security situation? yeah, there was in tortola. as far as i know, it's been controlled by the curfew that's been controlled by the curfew that's been put in place since last night. so have you received word of any aid yet, anything coming from outside sources? yeah, there's a couple navy ships in the area. there's been helicopters coming in. other than that, i heard there's some evacuee

lists for the people most critically injured. after that, it's kind of, we're kind of a wait and see. just to clarify, i hadn't asked you yet, are you a resident on the british virgin islands or are you there on holiday, what's your situation? yeah, i'm from the us. i've been a resident for about 15 years. i run a company down here called the looking glass. my office is a total loss. a lot of my friends have been displaced. a lot of expat community in the bvi. a lot of people are far away from home right now. but you wa nt to away from home right now. but you want to stay, you plan to stay do you? i plan to evacuate. i lost my house. and my cars and my office. the current living situation is i'm ina ppmg the current living situation is i'm in a ppmg building downtown. what sort of building is that, a shelter? kpmg - i beg your pardon, the

a ccou nta nts kpmg - i beg your pardon, the accountants office. yes, so you're sheltering on a business premises. yes, they're allowing us and being very supportive. their staff has been coming regularly. i'm with a family of five, three five—month—old triplets and we're waiting to hear about potential evacuation options. are a lot of people sheltering in business premise as far as you're aware? i think so. business premise as far as you're aware? ithink so. it business premise as far as you're aware? i think so. it would make sense because a lot of businesses have back—up generators. sense because a lot of businesses have back-up generators. so you say you want to leave, certainly in the long—term, but in the longer term would you plan to come back to the bvi? absolutely. yeah, this is my home. i love this place. i couldn't imagine abandoning it. as soon as i can come back, and get my office in order, i'm going to come back and see if i can actually do some good. and nick, you're obviously talking

to us, what's communication like on the islands themselves in terms of conversations between people on the various islands, what are the communications like at the moment? it's very difficult. there's limited service. 0ne it's very difficult. there's limited service. one of the carriers has pa rt service. one of the carriers has part of the island. another carrier has the other part. so it's really tough to coordinate communication. 0bviously everyone is trying to talk at the same time. all of that releva nt u p at the same time. all of that relevant up to date information gets buried quickly on facebook, which is, i'd say, the primary source of most of our communication. ok. well, nick, we appreciate your talking to us. we wish you well. good luck with everything in the next few days and weeks.