this is bbc news. i'm chris rogers. our top stories: florida reels from the onslaught of hurricane irma as strong winds and storm surges leave at least three people dead. long stretches of the coast are flooded, and many buildings and power lines badly damaged. president trump has declared a major disaster. 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. and i'm sally bundock. the economic fallout of irma. the insurance industry braces itself, and the president pledges whatever resources are needed — we assess what's at stake. and who should take the lead on addressing climate change — businesses or government? we bring you a special report from india. hello, and welcome to bbc news.

hurricane irma is now pushing up florida's west coast, bringing with it intense rainfall, severe flooding, violent winds and tornadoes. three people have died since the storm made landfall in the florida keys on sunday. power supplies have been cut to more than three million homes and businesses. six million people have been ordered to leave their homes in the state, while those remaining in several cities are under night—time curfew to prevent looting. irma has been downgraded to a category two hurricane, but officials are warning residents not to under—estimate the dangers of storm surges. miami may have dodged the eye of

burma, but the city was still inundated. —— irma. storm surges swamped the financial district. all day sunday, people were told to seek shelter from the hurricane force winds. wind speeds here are still in excess winds. wind speeds here are still in excess of 90 mph, and up here on the fourth floor while kenny, they are more like 100 mph. —— balcony. to give you an idea of the combined impact of the rain and the wind, look at this lake behind me. it has com pletely look at this lake behind me. it has completely flooded, the water pushed up completely flooded, the water pushed up over the bank, now approaching the car park. the florida keys took the car park. the florida keys took the first direct hit as hurricane irma strengthened to a category for mac. a relief effort is under way to reach those who decided to stay. we

have thousands of national guard members and fish and wildlife officers on standby to help with search and rescue once 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. weakened to a category two, but no less dangerous, hurricane irma is now sweeping over florida's west coast. president trump has promised every assistance and plans to visit the state this week. of course, before it made la ndfall week. of course, before it made landfall on the us mainland, hurricane irma cut a devastating swathes across the caribbean, claiming dozens of lives. 0n the island of st maartin, four people died and it's estimated that 70% of homes were damaged or destroyed. dutch authorities have been evacuating their nationals from there to curacao. on sunday the dutch king, willem—alexander, arrived in curacao to see relief efforts. and adding support to the locals in

need of those relief efforts as well. the director of tourism for the saint maartin government, rolando brison, has spoken to the bbc about the devastation on the island. this is the worst the caribbean has ever faced, maybe planet this is the worst the caribbean has everfaced, maybe planet earth, i don't know. but i have never seen... we are in a hurricane belt, so to speak. we are an island that is normally very resilient, we can take a category two for three and bounce back within a day or two. this is on another entire level of disaster. the fact is, a lot of our hotels are obliterated. there are some whole properties that i just obliterated. there are some whole properties that ijust can't imagine them of the opening the way they are. that is where the infrastructure, we are going to have to do infrastructure, we are going to have todoa infrastructure, we are going to have to do a lot of work. and the french president emmanuel macron has announced he would be traveling to st martin on tuesday on an airbus carrying aid supplies to show that paris is committed to both helping and rebuilding its far—away territories pummeled by hurricane irma. we are going to get the latest now

on what hurricane irma is doing. we canjoin our bbc on what hurricane irma is doing. we can join our bbc presenter tomasz schafernaker, who can join our bbc presenter tomasz schaferna ker, who is can join our bbc presenter tomasz schafernaker, who is normally in the warmth of the studio, but is now facing the elements on a balcony in tampa. how did tampa cope right in the path of the storm? well, actually, we are sheltered from the wind here. the eye of the storm is very close, it is actuallyjust passing tampa now. we have had hours and hours of relentless strong winds, andi and hours of relentless strong winds, and i think in the last couple of hours or so we saw the worst of the weather. we were actually outside in front of the hotel where we are stating, observing all of this weather. the best way to describe it, it may not best way to describe it, it may not be so obvious to our viewers, but it does really sound like there is a freight train summer in the distance, just constantly going and going. —— somewhere in the distance.

0ccasionally going. —— somewhere in the distance. occasionally we can see the sky lighting up blue in the distance, i think those are the transformers which are blowing up, as they cannot cope with the strength of the wind. below me as a palm tree which has been blown down. various lots of tree debris in the road. —— there is lots of. this is probably as bad as it is going to get, but is pretty rough. we can actually see those transformers lowing behind you, and we lose you for a split second every time that happens, actually. —— blowing. is the worst over now for the people of florida or is there worse to come? it is definitely not over. this is a very wide storm. it is moving quite slowly. we have the

whole night year, it isjust is moving quite slowly. we have the whole night year, it is just a about 11 o'clock or midnight here, we have got another six hours or so of severe weather to come. after that, the storm will eventually pull out into georgia and start to dissipate. it certainly isn't over yet. and then of course you have... (inaudible). well, we did well, didn't we, to get that far. bear in mind, as we heard from tomasz schafernaker, the mind, as we heard from tomasz schaferna ker, the eye mind, as we heard from tomasz schafernaker, the eye of the hurricane is just passing schafernaker, the eye of the hurricane isjust passing by schafernaker, the eye of the hurricane is just passing by tampa right now. that eerie calm before more horrific weather hits the area. you can see the rain is still plummeting down from the sky. and there's much more coverage of the hurricane on our website. you can get the latest live updates, and hear more from those affected. that's all at bbc.com/news. and it weather features heavily in

the business news. sally is here. yes, we are trying to assess, and it is quite tricky at this point, asio from tomasz schafernaker, it is still in full swing in florida. —— as you heard from. over three million people are without power in florida, as hurricane irma continues its devastating treck across the state. the business district of miami is suffering from severe flooding and it's not over yet, even though the storm has been downgraded to a category 2. it's all going to have a huge impact on the united states, the world's biggest economy. experts say this is the most expensive weather to ever hit the united states. it's too early to put an exact figure on the cost but the bank credit suisse is projecting losses could be in the region of $125—250 billion. the latest on the number of americans claiming unemployment

benefits show the first signs of the economic fallout. with a spike of 62,000 more people claiming benefits, mostly in texas following hurricane harvey. temporary and casual workers are the most vulnerable. when it comes to florida, agriculture is hugely important to the economy. to give you a sense of the value, in 2015 it brought in almost $8.4 billion into the economy. hurricane irma is expected to make a significant dent. 0rangejuice prices have already gone up. other big sellers include tomatoes and sugarcane. and with such big problems, the state is likely to turn to the federal government for help. on thursday the us senate approved $15.25 billion in aid for areas affected by hurricane harvey and other natural disasters as part of a deal allowing the federal debt level to rise. we are all keenly aware that it's not only the united states that is feeling the impact of severe weather. flooding in south asia this monsoon season is once again shining a spotlight on the effects climate change is having on the planet. a major industry body is putting the onus on businesses to come up

with green solutions to global warming in india. so can businesses solve the problem? or do governments need to lead by example? we'll have a special report from delhi in world business report. don't forget, you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter. i'm @sallybundockbbc. 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 ninety people who were killed in oaxaca and chiapas states, which bore the brunt of the damage. the 8.1 magnitude earthquake was the strongest the country has seen in a century. sarah corker reports. the town of ixtaltepec 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 coffin of an 85—year—old woman who died when her house collapsed is carried by mourners. 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 a 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 loot our houses, because various houses are open. 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. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. a teenager accused of making hoax bomb threats to thousands of schools, hospitals, shopping malls and airlines around the world is due to appear in court in israel today. the hearing is expected to hear about the medical condition of the 19—year—old named by authorities in the us as michael kadar.

his parents have told the bbc that he is not fit to stand trial because he is autistic and has a brain tumour. the un security council is to hold a vote on new sanctions against north korea later on monday. it comes after pyongyang warned it will inflict what it describes as the greatest pain and suffering on the united states if it continues to push for harsher measures. it called the us government a bloodthirsty beast obsessed with reversing north korea's development of a nuclear force. pope francis has made an appeal for peace and reconciliation at the end of his five—day tour of colombia. addressing thousands of people during a mass in the city of cartagena, the pope urged colombians to untie the knots of violence. while being driven around the city in the pope on appeal, pope francis suffered at leichardt. he hit his head on the window when the car had to brake sharply, but he is fine. stay with us on bbc news. still to

come, rafael nadal is crowned u.s. 0pen champion for a third time after a straight sets victory over kevin anderson in new york. we will have more on that in a moment. 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. our top story this hour: florida is reeling from the onslaught of hurricane irma as strong winds and storm surges leave at least three people dead. long stretches of the coast are flooded and many buildings and powerlines badly damaged. president trump has declared a major disaster. let's stay with that story now. let's speak to joey flechas, who's a reporter with the miami herald. firstly, how are you and your

colleagues? we are hanging in there. it has been a long several days at this point. it is a little bit actually darker in the newsroom because you can probably tell from the lighting because we have families in here, people have evacuated to work for the newspaper had actually evacuated to this building. we have been under evacuation orders, the storm hit us today, and it definitely was very impactful, very, very rehn, heavy wind. i was out there in the middle of it and it was something to be taken seriously. you say you were out there in the middle of it, can you describe that? 0ut out there in the middle of it, can you describe that? out of complete morbid curiosity, because there were many people watching who have no experience of what you have been going through over the last few hours. it is important to explain. i think that it's worth going into, honest lee. it was very, very frightening. we are talking about

70- 80, frightening. we are talking about 70— 80, mighty —— 90 mile an hour wind gust with rain that was falling ata wind gust with rain that was falling at a relentless pace. i was in downtown miami, miami beach, some of the most low—lying, vulnerable areas here in miami dade county and it was scary. streets in the financial district in downtown miami looks like rivers. they were choppy because of the wind. the bait was spilling over into low—lying islands and low—lying parts of miami beach —— bay. routes will be thrashed about in the bay. tropical weather isa about in the bay. tropical weather is a serious thing. —— boats. most people in miami know it and if they didn't, they learned it is to be taken seriously. it is a danger. the storm is very powerful. you had to go out there and endanger your life

for your job, go out there and endanger your life for yourjob, that is what journalist do, however many people managed to evacuate, a successful evacuation programme, we understand some people decided to set up a storm, particularly in the florida keys. today waking up to? what will they be coping with in the days to come, from what you have seen? they be coping with in the days to come, from what you have seemm will be difficult, i think, to assess all the damage immediately. it will take a bit. key west which is part of the most notable location in the keys, they with spare the actual worst of the wind and the power of the storm —— they were spared. the storm surge, the flooding caused by this. but some of the other keys that are in the middle of the chain of islands that connect key west to south florida, they would hit directly and it will

ta ke they would hit directly and it will take a little while to fully assess what happened. they were very vulnerable to storm surge, to flooding, it could be, there could be loss of life, we know some of the flight but they could be more and it's going to be tough to rebuild because these areas are already susceptible to see rise and the changes in the environment, storms like this, they make living there much more difficult so, and we don't have power right now in most of miami dade and certainly not at all in the keys. so that will make life harderfor people to in the keys. so that will make life harder for people to not have electricity for an indeterminate amount of time. jolie, briefly, looking at the website of the miami herald, are already reporting on some looting in the area which seems incredible when you look at the rivers that have emerged in the

middle of miami. ——joey. rivers that have emerged in the middle of miami. -- joey. it is something of the police officers and all law—enforcement here are trying to keep a check on. they have to stay safe also an something we were all notified of a head of the storm was that there wouldn't be emergency services and law enforcement available during the heat of the storms that it's a risk, a risk when basically you have an area that is not policed and well guarded that you could have it but at the same time it's important to remember really quickly that people sometimes do not have the means and if they see somewhere that has bred and has water and has some food, and the glasses broken down and are desperate, sometimes they will go and take it so i think it is something to consider. joey, we are glad you, your families something to consider. joey, we are glad you, yourfamilies and your collea g u es glad you, yourfamilies and your colleagues are safe. thank you for speaking to the bbc. the british brexit secretary, david davis, has warned mps that voting against the european union withdrawal bill would amount

to backing a "chaotic" exit from the eu. parliament votes on the so—called brexit repeal bill on monday but labour has already said it will oppose it. christian fraser walks us through them. here we have our brexit clock, ticking towards the deadline of march 2019, the date the uk is supposed to leave the european union. from june through august the two sides have had three rounds face—to—face negotiations and as yet no decisive breakthrough on the so—called divorce issues, the size of the uk's exit bill, the border issues in ireland, and of course the future rights of eu and uk citizens. all i hear, says michel barnier, is the tip of the clock and the frustrations on both sides are simmering. it is clear that uk doesn't feel legally obliged to honour its obligations after departure. how can we build trust

and starts discussing a future relationship? i think it's fair to say we've seen some concrete progress, but our discussions this week have expressed yet again that the uk's approach is substantially more flexible and pragmatic than that of the eu in avoid unnecessary disruption for businesses and consumers. which, all in all, leaves us consumers. which, all in all, leaves us with a big? 0ver consumers. which, all in all, leaves us with a big? over the damage of this negotiation. the uk wanted to discuss trade and the future relationship with the eu as soon as possible. but has any progress being made? the only thing that is shifted slightly is the uk on trouble, the direction of travel has not changed, they wanted out of the single market and the customs union and there is no sign of compromise at the next few months matters because it is about sorting out article 50 and the quicker we do that the quicker we can talk about trade to the government wants to try and get

agreement with the europeans in 0ctober agreement with the europeans in october on the article 50 issues and remember, the eu negotiate in a very specific way, nothing happens for ages and at 11th hour everyone panics and the compromise, negotiate, and i would expect to see progress now but go to the end of september and october will see things things start to move. david davis will certainly be hoping that's the case! but are plenty of things to get through, staker look then at some of the key milestones then at some of the key milestones the months ahead. the next face—to—face meeting is next week on the 18th of september which is becoming ever more important after a summer of slow progress. david davis is getting impatient and is now pushing for rolling weekly meetings. perhaps the bobby moore clarity, though, when the crucial german election is out of the way. there are two big leader some before the end of this year and we can probably expect the showdown on this one in 0ctober. and then the race won more in december, if the timetable does slip, but before this the final

brexit meeting of the year, eu ambassadors meeting on december 20. remember, as time ticks by, the business leaders here in the uk are waiting on the sidelines, delaying crucial contingency planning for the coming years. just how long can they wait? the next three months and will be critical in shaping our future brexit deal and at any point in this process , we brexit deal and at any point in this process, we could well be back to square one. or! and from a starting point here to that final meeting of the 20th of december, it's exactly 100 days. keeping a close eye on it! in tennis, rafael nadal is the us 0pen champion for a third time. the spaniard won the title in new york with a straight sets win over kevin anderson. paul frostick reports. rafael nadal went into this match as overwhelming favourite to lift his second grand slam title of the year. and this extent of his career. 0nly

his long—time rival roger federer is more than that. his opponent kevin anderson, the longer strength us 0pen men's finalist since the atp computer rankings began all years ago. so this was a mismatch from the outset and despite the efforts of the south african, the dull soon took charge. —— nadal. the world number one dominated every aspect of the 2.5 hourfinal. he broke anderson's big serve four times and never faced a break point himself. this is the third u.s. never faced a break point himself. this is the third us. open title for the spanish player and on this kind of form, he should be lifting more grand slam trophies in 2018. no one is thinking about the tennis in america, they are facing disruption as hurricane irma continues to push up as hurricane irma continues to push up florida's west coast, bringing

intense rainfall. hello once again. we in the british isles should expect an unsettled start of the week. nowhere more so than in wales and the south—west of england were disruption is distinctly possible given there will be copious loads of showers and also some very strong winds two. some of the gusts could easily exceed 50 miles an hour ‘s please be aware of that in the first few hours of the day. also plenty of showers to go around, maybe the wind is not just a showers to go around, maybe the wind is notjust a strong but i think it is notjust a strong but i think it is coming to be a feature of the day, coming infrom is coming to be a feature of the day, coming in from the north and north—west across many northern part of the british isles. close to the centre of the low pressure in the north—east of scotland here you have a combination of persistent rain and some pretty strong winds is well and they will be around for a good part of the day. the mid to upper teens

but if you get too many showers, and some will be sharpened up with a rumble of thunder and some pale, could be closer to ten or 11 degrees. monday to tuesday, some respite. ridge of high—pressure topples in from the atlantic. tuesday for many will certainly start off as a dry, fine, bright day. one or two showers but feeling more like 16— 19 degrees. then later in the day, from tuesday evening right through to the first part of wednesday, this could well be a very vigorous area of low pressure, gradually churning its way right through the heart of the british isles, a spell of really wet weather there for many. at the same time, it is the chance of seeing some very strong winds indeed. the system does eventually transfer off into the north sea of opening the gates to a shower rerun of north and wind across all parts of the british isles. having set up the regime, it will do us for thursday. still, the

wind quite noticeable, notjust a strong from the north—west, a cornish sort of direction and it offers the prospect if you are fully exposed to the north—westerly, of plenty of showers and again, one of two of those will be on the sharp side. a retreat this into friday, the isobars begin to open up a touch of the high—pressure tries to dominate, particularly the southern half of the british isles, but will not keep the atlantic fronted bay from scotland and northern ireland. this is bbc world news. the headlines: florida is reeling from the onslaught of hurricane irma, as strong winds and storm surges leave at least three people dead. long stretches of the coast are flooded, and many buildings and power lines badly damaged. more than six million people in florida had been told to evacuate, and some 200,000 people were reported to have have fled to emergency shelters. president trump has declared a major disaster and praised the federal agencies involved with the storm,

saying he would go to the state "very soon." 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