welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is gavin grey. our top stories: hurricane irma slams into florida's west coast, as strong winds and storm surges leave at least three people dead. millions of homes are without power and parts of miami are underwater. almost 200,000 people have fled to emergency shelters. there is barely a soul on the streets due to risk of flying debris. caribbean islands count the cost of the hurricane. about 30 people are dead. damage to housing and infrastructure could total $10 billion. and 90 people are now thought to have died in mexico's strongest quake for a century. the fear of aftershocks is forcing many to camp in the streets. hello.

hurricane irma has slammed into the us state of florida and is moving up its west coast bringing widespread coastal flooding, torrential rain, and winds of about 120 miles an hour. power supplies have been cut to more than three million homes and businesses. several cities in the state have declared overnight cu rfews to prevent looting. the storm has been downgraded to a category two, but officials are warning of life—threatening storm surges. the streets of miami's business district have been swamped by a up to three feet of water brought by a storm surge. 0ur correspondent, aleem maqbool, is there. they warned miami would flood, and it has. irma's massive downpours and ocean surges combined to inundate

the city's financial district. as thousands from the city hunkered down in hurricane shelters, others captured dramatic footage of the storm coming through. it's probably the hardest it's been all day. of power lines being torn down... oh my god! ..of lethal tornadoes being unleashed. of a roof being torn off a home, of a smashed crane, and water surging into town. more than a million homes and businesses are already without power. well, there is barely a soul on the streets anywhere in southern florida. and that is because of the risk of flying debris, the risk of power lines or trees coming down. the emergency services say that even

for them in the coming hours, it is going to be near impossible to operate. the hurricane first hit florida in the islands of its keys. that right here is the road in front of our house. this surge, i'm going to go with seven feet. brian is one of those who defied the orders to leave his home and was live on social media as the eye of the hurricane approached. we are in the eye wall. i'm not sure what category it is. maybe you can tell us what it is now. the massive coastal surges were preceded by this extraordinary sight, the tide being sucked away by the hurricane, building up the energy to be smashed back against the shore with full force. there is a serious threat of storm surge flooding along the entire west coast of florida. and this has increased to 15 feet of impact above ground level in south—west florida. we are hearing a lot of mixed

reports right now... alix perez escaped the keys to shelter in a hurricane—proof building in miami. he is anxious, keeping in touch with those left behind. a bunch of different areas have different levels of housing, some higher and some lower. some places have floodwaters up to people's waists, some up to people's roofs. that is up and down. up to people's roofs! yeah, very severe flooding. and up the florida coast, more are preparing, warned that hurricane irma could make further direct hits. president trump has been meeting with his cabinet to be briefed on the latest. every group has coordinated really well. i mean, the bad news is that this is some big monster, but i think we are very well coordinated. and after causing so much destruction in the caribbean, it's here, and the most densely populated city in its path so far, were so many are still sheltering.

0n the phone now is larry spring, city manager for north miami. thank you very much indeed for joining us. things have calmed down relatively in the last few hours for you. good morning. the wind has died down. but the risk of debris and power lines, in our city, coastal flooding, it still exists. we are still being careful. what reports of looting are being looked at by the authorities? in the surrounding cities there have been no reports. i was assessing the city a few hours ago. i stopped two looters from

robbing a store. and they are out there. but the cops are being diligent. but the mayor should help with that. there are key safety measures you want to get out there. absolutely. first and foremost, stay inside. nothing is open. there is water there are trees down. it is dark, you cannot see when driving, you will be injured. 80% of my city is without lights. streetlights and signal lights are not working. tomorrow we will be out assessing and starting the recovery process for the roads. there is a danger that with power lines down, some of

the waters may be carrying electrical current. that is absolutely correct. again, that's why we say stay home. we have stationed police officers near downed power lines. but obviously, with the state of destruction, which, again, we were lucky, structural damage, trees down, and the like. you talked about assessing tomorrow. how long will it take to get the city back on its feet? umm, speaking with my staff who have been here for 20 plus years, this level of tree damage has not been at this level since like 1992 when hurricane andrew went through, the last big catastrophic hurricane. we are talking about a couple of weeks to

get back to normal. we are working with locals to get things back up to normal. but the minimum is several weeks. larry spring, thanks very much indeed for your time. dr lin humphrey is in miami on the 28th floor of a high—rise in the brickell district and he joins us from his apartment now. you decided to stay put. why is that? this building was built after 2008 so it has the highest grade of hurricane windows. the hallways and sta i rwells hurricane windows. the hallways and stairwells are safe if there is any issues around the windows. the local advice is run from floodwater and hide from wind. i was up from the floodwater and say from the wind. when you say safe from the wind, you spend a lot of time in the corridor with your dog who we can just see

there, prada. yeah. we have a really good alert system. it alerted us of several tornado warnings which meant we we re several tornado warnings which meant we were in the path of a potential tornado. we went to the whole way and sat and waited it out. it was perfectly safe, though creepy. by the look of the photo, you were the only ones there. we were. there are 25 units here in the a2—level building occupied right now. so it isa building occupied right now. so it is a little creepy. can you describe what it is like? you have power, you said it is creepy, but what is it like, what is the noise like? are you able to see? what is really strange is my bedroom is completely windowed. tween the windows are

drain pipes. it sounds like watching machine. it looks like i was going through a car wash at times. the scariest thing is something by design, the tower started swaying in the wind, which it is supposed to do. in the whole way we can hear it creaking back and forth. that was the only moment i was truly nervous. you teach marketing at florida international university. it is great to see everyone coming together. how will you help collea g u es together. how will you help colleagues in future try to get back into the city to get the university open into the city to get the university o e ' into the city to get the university open again? we have been told by the president we are closed until further notice. we want to make sure the campus and everything is safe for people to return. keep in mind with significant power outages,

people cannot do on line classes. i will open up my apartment to a colleague, though i don't know who thatis colleague, though i don't know who that is yet. but we don't have power so they will have a place to stay. i am fortunate right now. the power lines or underground. i will do what ican. i lines or underground. i will do what i can. i will try to provide refuge and support for people to come together. thank you very much. thank you. goodbye. in the caribbean, at least 25 people were killed by hurricane irma, five of them in the british virgin islands, where a relief effort is under way. homes and boats have been destroyed, and a state of emergency declared. britain's foreign secretary, boris johnson, has defended the government's response, saying it would be helping "in the long—term." the largest of the islands is tortola, from where our correspondent, laura bicker, reports. the british virgin islands look like they have been hit by the blast wave of a bomb. 0n the biggest island of tortola,

houses have been ripped apart and contents scattered for miles. an over—20—foot wave surge crushed boats, beaching them among the rubble. arron glasgow was at home as irma hit. this section of my mum's room, the roof came off. then my bedroom came off. we ran to the living room. glass everywhere. we had all this boarded up. you've lost everything? everything. people talk about the winds that came through here as if they were alive, as if it had come from another world. and now, five days after the hurricane struck, they are in desperate need of food, of shelter, and clean water. others are just simply desperate to leave. the shock of seeing this terrifying force of nature is overwhelming. some are trying to fly home to relatives in the uk.

the masson family made it to the shelter after neighbours with machetes hacked through debris to help them hike from their damaged home. we don't know what planes are going, or when they're going. literally this morning was the first time we had heard any news at all of what was happening. some residents have criticised the uk government's response to this crisis as pathetic and slow. there are also reports of looting across the island, as many are desperate for basic supplies. there are large queues for food and for petrol. help has now arrived. the british military have brought aid, and are already re—establishing order. they are working on a plan to try to restore power and water. one woman told me she wept with relief as she saw the plane land. hurricane irma's trail of destruction is vast, and yet the caribbean spirit prevails. as our team walked the streets, so many people told us the same message.

they are simply grateful to be alive. hurricane irma hurt st martin on thursday. we are joined hurricane irma hurt st martin on thursday. we arejoined by hurricane irma hurt st martin on thursday. we are joined by an official. what is the state of the island? not good. catastrophic. a lot of physical damage to buildings. fortu nately, lot of physical damage to buildings. fortunately, the dutch side has not had any casualties, though the french side unfortunately has. yeah, it... the island is unrecognisable, say many people. we have a lot of

work to get where we used to be. to be clear, you were in the netherlands on a business trip before it struck. is this the worst it has ever faced ? before it struck. is this the worst it has ever faced? this is the worst the caribbean, perhaps even planet earth, has ever faced. the caribbean, perhaps even planet earth, has everfaced. we the caribbean, perhaps even planet earth, has ever faced. we are the caribbean, perhaps even planet earth, has everfaced. we are in a hurricane path. we will get a large one and bounce back in a day or two. this is another level of disaster. i cannot find the words when i look at what is happening back home. i cannot imagine it being worse. you are very keen to get a message out to airlines are very keen to get a message out to air lines they can really help here. what is it you would like them to do? we really want the airline is to do? we really want the airline is to reach out to us. the important thing is we are a great point of

contact. thing is we are a great point of co nta ct. we thing is we are a great point of contact. we want them to come back to st martin and bring relief, supplies, get people back home. we even had the royal caribbean comeback in and get people on the island. we have 4000 visitors on the island. we have 4000 visitors on the island during the storm. that is a lot of people we need to get out. the airport, the runway is operable and if you did get that help that would at least start the process off. yes, the airport is barely functional. the tarmac is good, it is safer landing. san juan functional. the tarmac is good, it is safer landing. sanjuan is doing the tower work for us, the air traffic control. the military is working hard to accept —— to secure the perimeter. we can accept flights, please get in touch, get people in and get people out. you

have also been speaking to the military and aid organisations. what aid is needed? 0bviously clean water is one of the first? water, water is so important. i think as an island with visitors on board, and with locals, and the sad fact that looting took place yesterday, there isa looting took place yesterday, there is a shortage of water on the island. the medical centre does need basic medical supplies, gauze, you name it. i think the relief organisations, if you gone the websites of the red cross and so on, they know what type of relief we need. —— go on the websites. they know what type of relief we need. -- go on the websites. you work for the tourist board. how damaging will this be? it is going to be hard. saint martin is a beautiful island. people want to see and experience a lovely island and awesome people but they need a place

to stay, and the fact is that a lot of our hotels are obliterated. there are some properties that ijust can't imagine ever opening again, the way that they are. that is where the way that they are. that is where the infrastructure, we are going to have to do lots of work to have places for tourists to stay. in the interim we know we will have people who want to come back and see not just our island, the surrounding islands like saint barts and anguilla. so from that tourist perspective, the airport will still be able to function as a hub. we will have to count on that. what we will have to count on that. what we will need relief from the world, financial relief from everybody around the world. —— but we will need. orlando price, can indications director for the need. orlando price, can indications directorfor the saint need. orlando price, can indications director for the saint martin government, thank you. —— communications director. this is bbc news. you can get more updates about hurricane irma on our website. stay with us here on bbc news. still

to come, smashing boundaries. we meet the girls changing the face of indian cricket. freedom itself was attacked this morning, and freedom will be defended. the united states will hunt down and punish those responsible. bishop tutu now becomes spiritual leader of 100,000 anglicans here — of the blacks in soweto township, as well as the whites, in their rich suburbs. we say to you today, in a loud and a clear voice, enough of blood and tears — enough! translation: the difficult decision we reached together was one that required great and exceptional courage. it's an exodus of up to 60,000 people, caused by the uneven pace

of political change in eastern europe. iam free! this is bbc news. the latest headlines: hurricane irma has slammed into florida's west coast, with strong winds and storm surges leaving at least three people dead. the first funerals have been held for those killed in a massive earthquake off southern mexico on thursday night. rescuers continue to dig out the bodies of up to 90 people who were killed in oaxaca and chiapas states, which bore the brunt of the damage. at 8.1 in magnitude, the earthquake was the strongest the country has seen in a century. sarah corker reports. this town has been reduced to

rubble. this area in southern mexico was hardest hit by thursday's monster earthquake. churches, schools, homes, roads, have been torn apart, flattened. through the maze of debris, the first funeral processions. the cop and mac than 85 eagleton and who died when her house collapsed is by mourners. —— coffin ofan collapsed is by mourners. —— coffin of an 85—year—old woman. many houses have been destroyed, many people buried below the rubble. rescuers say there is no hope of finding anybody else alive. translation: no, it is no longer race search for people. it is now support for the community. we are recuperating belongings, whatever can be retrieved, assessing the damage and helping the wounded. in daylight,

people start to salvage whatever they can. at night, families sleep on the streets. since the initial 8.1 magnitude earthquake, there have been more than 700 after—shocks. that isn't the only concern. we are here so people do not pollute our houses, because various houses are open. —— loot our houses. and there have been after—shocks, we want to be outside so we don't get hurt inside. electricity and water supplies were cut off and emergency aid has now started to arrive. while mexico is prone to earthquakes, people here say that in their lifetimes, they've never seen one so destructive and deadly. pope francis has had a minor accident while being driven through the streets of cartagena in colombia. you can see him waving to the crowd and losing his balance, hitting his head against the popemobile. after treatment he spent time with workers and residents at a shelter.

he later joked that he'd punched himself. and in the final hour of his tour, pope francis was given a colourful and musical goodbye. before he left he made another appeal for peace and reconciliation. he reiterated the need forjustice, in orderfor colombia to move forward on a peace deal signed by the government and former rebels from the farc group, which has now become a political party. in tennis, the world number one rafael nadal has beaten kevin anderson of south africa in straight sets to take the us open men's singles final, the last major tournament of the season. the spanish player has won a total of 16 grand slam titles. on saturday, the american player sloane stephens, ranked 83rd in the world, caused a major upset by winning the women's final. stephens beat her compatriot madison keys to take her first grand slam. india's women cricketers may have lost to england in the final

of the world cup but they still won a major victory on home turf. cricket clubs across the the country are reporting a surge in interest from young girls. we've been to one cricket academy in hyderabad to see the next generation in training. i will make a record for india. translation: the girl playing here is my daughter. she is showing a lot of interest in cricket. as a parent, i feel that girls should play cricket as well. notjust the boys. translation: people made fun of my decision to send my daughters to play cricket. the perception about women's cricket was totally uncalled for before. they used to ask us questions

like you play with the same rules and bats. i am sure those things will not be repeated henceforth seeing the girls play in the matches in the world cup. translation: i had doubts whether people would respect women playing cricket, but after watching women's cricket on television and seeing the indian women's team in the finals, i knew i had made the right decision. if you want the latest news on hurricane irma and the damage being caused in america, you can go to the bbc news website. hello.

as irma continues north across the state of florida, we here in the british isles have experienced quite an unsettled weekend. and that theme continues on into the forthcoming week. for a time, we'll see cool and at times windy weather and some pretty heavy downpours to boot. the concerns start as early as monday morning, especially so across wales and the south—west, where some of the gusts of wind could easily be up at around 50, if not 60mph. at the same time, those conditions could be exacerbated by some squally showers indeed. elsewhere across the british isles, how do we start the new week? ina similarvein. the wind not a concern as in wales and the south—west. but the wind will be ever present for many parts of western scotland and northern ireland and a good part of england and wales. and there will be plenty of showers to go around as well. at times, some of those showers

will merge to give the odd longer spell of rain. perhaps nowhere more so than this north—eastern quarter of scotland. quite close to an area of low pressure there. showers, quite sharp, they will have hail and thunder. if you see too many, you are not going to be in the mid to upper teens, closer to 10—11. out of monday and into tuesday, a little ridge of high pressure working across the british isles, tending to settle things down. this is one of the quieter days of the week, at least to start with. it will feel pleasant with less wind. 16—19, something like that. later in the day overnight into wednesday, we could see the emergence from the atlantic of a very vigorous area of low pressure gradually churning its way right across the heart of the british isles. there are already warnings from the met office about the intensity of that rain for the northern parts of england and wales and the strength of the wind.

the system has the good grace to move on into the north sea, leaving behind, for the bulk of us, wednesday as another really showery day. and do you know what, we continue that theme on into thursday. the wind from the north—west still quite a noticeable feature of the day. in the midst of all of this there will be sunny spells but it really won't do much for the temperatures, never better than about 12 or 13 in the north, around 17 or 18 in the south. thursday and friday, a tantalising and teasing prospect of some high pressurejust beginning to work into the west, but it probably won't keep those fronts at bay for the northern parts of britain. this is bbc news. the headlines: hurricane irma has slammed into florida's west coast, with strong winds and storm surges leaving at least three people dead. millions of homes are without power and parts of miami are underwater. almost 200,000 people have fled to emergency shelters. at least 25 people were killed by hurricane irma in the caribbean, five of them in the british virgin islands, where a relief effort is under way.

homes and boats have been destroyed, and a state of emergency declared. damage to housing and infrastructure could total ten billion dollars. the first funerals have been held for those killed in a massive earthquake off southern mexico on thursday night. 90 people are now thought to have died in what was the country's strongest quake for a century. the fear of aftershocks is forcing many to camp in the streets. now on bbc news, it is time for the week in parliament.