this is bbc news. i'm annita mcveigh. the headlines at 6pm. hurricane irma slams into florida with winds of up to 130 miles per hour. more than a million homes and businesses are without power. we have torrential rains causing flood warnings across the region, on top of the deadly storm surge that is almost certainly going to happen. it is predicted to be up to 15 feet high in some places. this is a life—threatening situation. the storm surge comes after the strongest winds, do not think the storm is over when the winds slow down. this is live in fort lauderdale in florida, as the storm

approaches. cuba was battered overnight — there's been ‘significant damage' and the recovery process is now beginning. across the caribbean, a relief effort is getting underway. in other news: officials in mexico say at least 90 people are now known to have died in thursday's earthquake. sir mo farah becomes the first athlete to win the great north run four times in a row. good evening and welcome to bbc news. after battering its way through the caribbean, hurricane irma — currently a category four storm — has slammed into the lower florida keys, lashing the island chain with winds of up to 130 miles per hour. the hurricane made landfall

in cuba late on friday. it engulfed villages, causing widespread damage and leaving whole communities homeless. the eye of the storm has now reached florida keys, bringing extreme winds that are expected to last for the next few hours. all residents had been ordered to leave amid fears that a storm surge reaching 15 feet could hit the islands, most of which are only a few feet above sea level. one person has been confirmed dead in the florida keys. three people have been confirmed dead in the florida keys. as the storm is expected to move north to mainland florida, more than a million homes and businesses are without power and some 50,000 people have taken refuge in shelters. this report from sarah campbell. in the past hour the state governor rick scott give an update on the situation. the vast majority of

florida is under a hurricane warning. millions are affected by the storm. there is a severe threat of significant storm surge flooding along the entire west coast of florida and this has increased to 15 feet above ground level. tampa will see a surge of 5—8 feet. the big bend area will see a surge of 4—6 feet. we have seen tornadoes in central and south florida and the threat will continue today and tonight. this is a life—threatening situation. remember, in south—west florida, the storm surge comes after the strongest winds, do not think the strongest winds, do not think the storm is over when the wind slows down. local officials will let you know when the safety go out. the storm surge will rush in and could kill you. we have thousands of national guard members and wildlife

office rs national guard members and wildlife officers on hand to help with search and rescue as sooi'i as officers on hand to help with search and rescue as soon as it is safe, but they cannot help you until the storm has passed. you need to stay ina storm has passed. you need to stay in a safe place. with the storm's latest track, families and the panhandle need to be alert for severe weather and hurricane force winds. in tallahassee it is likely we will experience hurricane force winds and families must prepare. we are doing all we can to be prepared for the storm. today i requested a major disaster declaration i president trump to helping important aid and resources to florida. i have spoken with the president nearly every day as well as today as well as our other federal partners. we are working closely with the federal government to make sure florida has the resources they need for the storm. this has been a challenging week for this state, all week i

travelled around florida to take this message, take the deadly storm seriously. stay safe, be prepared, listen to local evacuation advice. my first duty is government is to protect the people of fraud at the and the storm is here now. everyone's family matters, every life matters. please know that we will do anything and everything to protect and rescue every person and we will spare no expense in doing that. rick scott, the governor of florida. 0ur correspondence has been monitoring the situation in florida as it braces for the hurricane's approach. hurricane irma is bearing down on the sunshine state. these scenes, a mere indication of what is to come. power outages are already widespread and roads flooded. for those who haven't been able to leave, time has run out. we are talking about wind gusts over 100 miles an hour,

perhaps up to 130 miles an hour. this kind of wind can do tremendous amounts of damage to wood frame homes, trees, power lines and things. the other very deadly risk we have is storm surge flooding. most people who die in hurricanes do so from drowning in a storm surge. the people of cuba are already starting to count the cost of hurricane irma, which battered the island for hours before finally moving north. now a popular holiday destination, thousands of british tourists were stranded there. the airport is closed to all flights. 0perators including thomas cook have been criticised for not doing enough to help. it's a very unpredictable scenario. some of the airports are still closed, so we are taking each day as it comes. the next 2a hours is about looking after the welfare of our customers in cuba, and making sure our customers in florida are well—prepared. the hurricane weakened slightly

as it passed over cuba, but has strengthened once again on its approach to florida. british airways said it is in contact with its holiday—makers, and will send a plane to the region to pick up passengers as soon is it safe to do so. that may not be for some time. thousands of florida residents are packed into mass shelters. in all, 6 million people were advised to leave, making this one of the biggest evacuations in us history. and this is why. these pictures show what is left of some of the caribbean islands already hit by the hurricane. its destructive power is very clear. let's go to miami and our correspondence jane let's go to miami and our correspondence jane 0'brien. give us

a sense of how it feels to be standing there right now. the winds are now at about 90 mph which is really ha rd to are now at about 90 mph which is really hard to stand up then. i have to say we are pretty safe, on the fourth floor of a hotel, so we are to be storm surge and the rain it uncomfortable and the gusts of wind make it difficult to stand up, but the weirdest thing i feel is my ears keep popping because the pressure keeps changing. i'm sure scientists can explain why that is but every 110w can explain why that is but every now and then i can appeared and then my your spot. i want to show you what rick scott is talking about, i will step out of shot and we can zoom in to this lake behind me. in the last half—hour, that lake has been blown over its bank and is now flooding the marshy area up against

the roads. it has happened very quickly and the roads all around this alltel also under water. we have lot of local damage and we can toa have lot of local damage and we can to a tree that fell on the last few minutes. we have had other trees and branches crashing onto cards and a lot of localised damage and in downtown miami even bigger damage. a crane collapsed onto the building. something has just crane collapsed onto the building. something hasjust gone buying crane collapsed onto the building. something has just gone buying very loudly, probably another tree. something has just gone buying very loudly, probably anothertree. it something has just gone buying very loudly, probably another tree. it is wild and windy and even though miami has escaped the eye of the hurricane, it is clearly lethal out there which is why governor rick scott is saying do not call it in this, don't think it's safe, because this, don't think it's safe, because this is still a life—threatening storm. have you seen anyone who has tried to go out in it or do you

think most people have taken the advice and are either in shelters have left the state? social media is full of people doing crazy things like riding bicycles, but most people are taking this very seriously. i asked some of the people who have taken refuge in this hotel, from other parts of miami, i said the eye of the storm has missed you, does it mean you won't pay attention to warnings in the future, and they said absolutely not. it is and they said absolutely not. it is a real storm and every part of florida is being affected, even outside the deadly: we are talking about the conditions are still life—threatening. they are taking it very seriously and are glad to be safe. bbc weather presenter tomasz shafernaker is in the tampa bay area in florida which is expected to feel the full force in the next few hours. it is interesting to compare with

miami, we can see it as wet there but you haven't got those ones yet, at least not to the extent we are seeing in miami. relatively speaking it is quite calm here. the trees are just moving a little bit. this is the commonest weather we have seen here for the last few hours saw —— calmest. i want to explain first what it means when a hurricane is approaching because we often talk about hurricane is slamming into the coastline. that doesn't actually happened. they creep up the coastline, the move very slowly, maybe ten or 20 mph, so what you find is that a hurricane belts. first you see the clouds and went increasing and then with every

half— hour you see heavy increasing and then with every half—hour you see heavy rain increasing and then with every half— hour you see heavy rain and gusty winds coming through and then they become more frequent, occasionally a bit of a lull. this isa occasionally a bit of a lull. this is a significant long but in around five hours so we will get into that continuous stream of heavy rain and strong winds circling the eye. that is the tropical storm force winds and then is the core of the hurricane rides the coastline all the way from naples and sarasota and to tamper that is when we bought find ourselves in the core of the storm and we will have a good 2—3 hours of hurricane ones and then the storm surge. i also want to point out we are in a car park and there are some high—rises. what tends to happen in hurricane says that the wind is very strong close to the ground but the higher up you go the stronger the wind is, ground but the higher up you go the strongerthe wind is, so ground but the higher up you go the stronger the wind is, so we talk

about categories, and this is a category three if it makes landfall. the equivalent wind speed higher up will be perhaps category four. the higherup you are will be perhaps category four. the higher up you are on the building the more damage it will do. some of these buildings may lose glass panels. if they are not hurricane proofed. we're probably looking at a loss of trees down and power outages as well. the area is expected to be flooded by a storm surge. not where we are, this is relatively safe. we are by hotel and we will be riding at the storm in the coming hours as the call of the storm approaches. thank you for that. let's get more reaction from the state of florida. i enjoyed live via webcam. thanks yourtime, i enjoyed live via webcam. thanks your time, when we spoke yesterday your time, when we spoke yesterday you explain to us that once the winds got to around a0 mph, law

enforcement officials and emergency officials wouldn't be able to go out and help anyone so that was why it was so and help anyone so that was why it was so important that people took shelter or got it. we're beyond that point now because the winds are much stronger now? let me tell you where we are that right now. we can confirm some lives have been lost. south florida has been getting hammered with heavy rain and winds. power lines are down all over the cou nty power lines are down all over the county and more than 1 power lines are down all over the county and more thani million people are out of power and we have reports a clean has actually come down and fallen on a building. we have reports of hotel on the beach has lost its roof. we have reports of police vehicles being damaged because of the rain and winds. trees down everywhere and main roads blocked. it is a mist and this is just the beginning of the storm. nobody would think we are not in the middle of a category for a five

hurricane because it is hurting as extreme way hard. you are talking to others via webcam but ask communication still reasonable in terms of getting all these reports in? i can tell you we are struggling. poland is going in and out and we are currently on generator power and we have been doing lots of interviews and losing them halfway through. we never know when we are going to lose connections. and how long do you anticipate it will be, taking into account the winds and storm surges that we have been warned an incredibly dangerous, how long before your people can get out and assess damage and help?|j before your people can get out and assess damage and help? i can tell you we are calling in a second squad tonight at midnight that will be here for at least another 24 hours so here for at least another 24 hours so we're looking at 36 hours, and hopefully we can get it before that but the storm has slowed down and is

basicallyjust crushing us with heavy winds and rain. it is getting pretty bad. what is your assessment of the number of people who have not taken precautions that they were warned to take? as long as people stay in their homes and don't lose their roofs, the power lines are down and they are life, and if people go outside to check they can get electrocuted and dry. that is a big concern for us. the only vehicle we have we can get out in bed and assessment, and multiple trees are down and roofs are gone and trees have fallen, on an apartment complex that they evacuated, and i have information that a couple of lives have been lost and they know that just north of us, the police were involved in a shooting of a burglary. it is pretty bad it here.

thank you for your time. joining me now is kate who is on holiday with her family 30 miles from miami. thank you for talking to us from miami. thank you for talking to us and just describe what you can see and hear at the moment. us and just describe what you can see and hear at the momentlj us and just describe what you can see and hear at the moment. i am currently in a room with the shutters up and i can see anything but i can see through the people in the door and it is windy and the trees are blowing. it is very loud right now. before i chat further, you have managed to send us some pictures which we hope to show our viewers so we will take a look. so we are seeing trees blowing in the wind caused by hurricane irma.

if this immediately it said where you are staying? immediately outside. when did you film this? this was about an hour ago and it has just got this was about an hour ago and it hasjust got louder and this was about an hour ago and it has just got louder and louder. this was about an hour ago and it hasjust got louder and louder. how many of you are but in this room? three of us in the house, and we are without power. were you able to get supplies and in readiness for this? yes. my family are really prepared and have been through this before so we got in lots of food and we have put the shutters up and we're really prepared. i have got an electric battery—operated fan in front of me because there is no power, so the

air conditioning and fans are not working. you see your family has been through this but have you experienced being in the middle of a hurricane before? i have never been any hurricane before. we arrived last week and we got told in earlier this week it would be happening and i was thinking, my gosh, this is an experience i will probably never have again. cody feel right now, do you feel scared or do you feel it is a terrible situation but you will get through it? it is pretty scary because i can hear the winds and i know it'll get worse because it coming towards us. i have been told the house is built to withstand that soiam the house is built to withstand that so i amjust the house is built to withstand that so i am just hoping it does. i am hoping everyone stays safe. good

luck to you and your family and thank you very much for talking to us. thank you very much for talking to us. the governor of florida direct scott has warned of massive storm surges rate across the state. the spectres, just send them to the bbc, show the extent of flooding on florida's west coast. it is expected to create a huge storm surge which could be up to 15 feet high. power lines have already fallen and the authorities have shut down a nuclear reactor in southern florida as well. michael augerjoins us now from florida via skype. he is in puerto rico after being evacuated from saint martin yesterday. just tell us what the situation was like in st martin before we were evacuated. absolute devastation, no leaves on trees and

every single tree broken in half, every single tree broken in half, every roof off of every building you could see. bricks through windows on the windows at all. upturned cars and cars in trees. people were going round with knives and guns looking for supplies, littering, the supermarket was mayhem. me and my friend feared for our lives and i am grateful to be out of there. friend feared for our lives and i am grateful to be out of therem friend feared for our lives and i am grateful to be out of there. it is a dramatic scene you describe. we were you when hurricane irma was hurting st maarten. i was in simpson bay resort quite close to the airport and they were really as good as they could have been. they had police to sort out the looting. they try to get people to safe places. there was

no food or water and electricity. everybody tried to rally together and rural residents from the island who lost their homes and came to try to help you tourists because they knew we were all in disarray because we had not been through this. just hearing about florida, my heart goes out to everyone there. you saw the good and bad, people littering but also people who wanted to help. how did you get from st maarten to puerto rico? we waited at the airport yesterday morning for about four hours in a queue where there seemed to be no information that people were stuck at the airport and we saw some us military planes coming in, so the queue starts going down and we were thinking positively, but we saw people getting pulled out of the line, non—us citizens, and you had to have

aus non—us citizens, and you had to have a us passport to be able to board. there was a lot of british citizens and we were informed nor british citizens were on st maarten, so we we re citizens were on st maarten, so we were on display and didn't know what to do. the hotel rooms we left we knew would have been ruined our people would have taken all the supplies. we were in a complete panic. hurricane cosy started to form and... i am really sorry to interrupt but we're going to have to leave it but thank you very much telling us your story. 20 more on hurricane irma other website. officials in mexico say at least 90 people are now known to have died in thursday's earthquake — the strongest the country has seen in a century. more than 70 people have been killed in the south—west state of juchitan.

hundreds of families have reportedly been camping in the streets, afraid of the dangers of aftershocks. aaron safir reports. clearing the rubble injuchitan in southern mexico, the town worst hit by thursday's earthquake. rescuers have told the bbc they don't believe there is anyone left under the 7,000 buildings that collapsed here. and while the machines, men and sniffer dogs continue their work, others continue to bury their dead. at least 36 people are reported to have been killed here. among them, this man's son. translation: he didn't have time to get out and the building completely collapsed. it was very old, over 200 years old, and unfortunately out of the seven people who were inside, only four were able to be rescued. the other three unfortunately died. tabasco, chiapas and oaxaca states are among mexico's poorest and least developed. the earthquake that hit them was the most powerful anywhere in the world since 2015. 8.1 in magnitude.

tremors were felt in mexico city, some 500 miles away. the earthquake was deep, so the shaking felt on the surface was less strong than it would have been for a shallower one. that's little comfort for these people picking up the pieces in juchitan. one in three houses are affected and thousands of families have lost their homes. food and water are scarce and parts of the city don't have electricity. the hundreds of after—shocks felt since thursday have left people fearful. translation: a lot of people are sleeping on the streets because they fear another quake, because they fear the after—shocks that have been happening continuously, and it's a very ugly fear that we're experiencing. the authorities say tens of thousands of ration packs, blankets and cleaning kits are arriving to help the recovery efforts, but for the homeless and bereaved of southern mexico, it is help that can't come soon enough and will only be the first step in rebuilding their lives. aaron safir, bbc news. inafew

in a few minutes will be joined by viewers on bbc one but first he is the weather forecast. any moment i will bring you news about an unsettled week of weather to come but nothing on the scale of the weather that is being experienced on the other side of the atlantic. this is hurricane are a sliding across the florida keys, bringing power cuts and sustained winds of 130 mph, and expect those damaging winds and the major storm surge to continue as the storm gradually drifts northwards. back home it is quieter but not com pletely home it is quieter but not completely quiet. a windy week with some heavy downpours and the weather front sweeping eastwards and patchy rain but behind its unduly heavy

showers bawling and an increasingly strong winds, the isobars really squeezed together, soak overnight we see some really strong winds, particularly for western coastal areas. some heavy showers and the odd rumble of thunder. could be a fairly chilly night but the temperature of around 13 celsius. the wind could be strong enough particularly in wales in south—west england to cause travel disruption on the monday commute. with the strong winds and gale force winds and places, some heavy showers, extending across wales and to the midlands. a blustery morning across england, some were for northern ireland. 12 celsius to start the day in belfast. quite a chilly feel. maybe some glimmers of brightness across eastern scotland for a time. as we go through the day we continue

to see gusty winds with some heavy and thundery showers, could be some hail thrown in. some bright sunny spells between the downpours and the temperature around 13—19. tuesday is a chance to draw breath with a quiet day and still some sunshine around. late in the day we see this area of rain spreading anthony west. could be some very windy weather on tuesday night and wednesday and thursday stays lustily and cool with some and heavy showers. a million homes are without power in florida as hurricane irma closes in.

miami is feeling the force of one of the most powerful atlantic storms ever recorded. with the emergency services suspended, the destructive force of this hurricane is now clear. there is barely a soul on the street anywhere in southern florida and that is because of the risk of flying debris. we'll get the latest from florida. also tonight, the government is to breach the public sector pay cap for the first time in seven years for increases for the police and prison officers. as the number of rohinga referees appears to grow, myanmar are accused of genocide. and