if my daughter is listening to me now, she'll know that i'm going to make sure that i'm going to do my best and give it all i got that we're all alive come monday. >> joel, we will talk to you then. you are in our thought. thank you very much. >> thank you, ma'am. god bless you all. >> thanks to all of you for joining us. our breaking news coverage continues. good evening from miami beach, where, as you can tell, just the first outer bands of the storm are starting to be felt. the wind has just started to pick up here over the last 15 or 20 minutes. but this is a faint whisper of the winds, the deadly winds still to come. late today, we learned the worst, that hurricane irma is expected to grow again on its final approach to the area and when it hits the florida keys just a few hours drive from here, it may be a category 5 storm, a killer storm already. not only that, the track now puts both coasts here at risk of

enormous surges, up to ten feet here in miami. that and the sheer size of this monster has hurricane warnings, evacuation warnings and traffic jams extending further north. the governor saying everyone should be ready to evacuate. leave now, he said, not tonight, not in an hour. now. we've got a lot of coverage tonight across the state in cuba, the caribbean. we begin with alison in the weather center. so a new forecast just came in with irma. explain where it is and where it's heading. >> it is in between the bahamas and in cuba. it's in very warm water. that's going to allow the storm to intention fie over the coming hours. likely back up to category 5 strength. we are just now starting to see some of the extreme outer stretches of the storm begin to produce showers and storms over the florida keys. that's likely to increase in the

coming hours. but again, the storm still a very strong category storm, just two miles per hour off from category 5 strength. we expect it to get to category 5 strength, just as it crosses over the florida keys. for the main peninsula of florida, likely to be a category 4, and weaken quickly as it moves to the north. we have seen expansion of the counties that are under hurricane watches and warnings. and that, anderson, is likely to continue to push off to the north in the coming hours, as landfall gets closer and closer. at this point, landfall looks to be in the florida keys right around early sunday morning. >> and storm surge obviously a big factor here. what should residents here expect? >> starting from say about west palm beach through key west, 5 to 10 feet. on the southwest side, naples down to key west, talking 8 to 12 feet of surge. it's going to be slightly higher on the southwest side, because

that dip from where the beach dives into the ocean is much shallower on the southwest side than on the eastern side. but to understand what this means for folks around you, a single story building is about 10 feet. so if we get storm surge up 5 to 10 feet, that means the first story of this home could be submerged in water, and we saw so much of that in houston, because of harvey and we could end up seeing a similar scenario play out for folks in south florida. >> alison, do you have a sense of where that northeast quadrant of the storm is going to be hitting in florida? is it too soon to tell? >> likely. again, all things can change. but likely it looks like it would be from miami to key west, where you're going to encounter incredibly strong winds and also you're going to encounter some very strong storm surge. although the storm surge, anderson, as we talked about, will peak in the southwestern

corridor from naples down to key west. >> alison chinchar, we'll check in with you over the next two hours. we have a lot of new storm information coming in. bands of the storm have been lashing the north coast of cuba for several hours. take a look at this. this is cnn's patrick ottman trying to get his wind breaker back on. he's now back with us, so let's go to him live. patrick, what is the situation? we saw you get hit with heavy wind and rain. i guess you're in between these bands? it looks calmer now. >> reporter: absolutely. the eerie, dead calm between these bands. the power has been knocked out by one of the earlier bands. the chip you showed where i got blasted, that's the first rain we felt all day long. we saw clouds off in the

distance that were turning black and we said oh, something is developing there. then without warning, it was like having a power washer put in your face. i could barely stand and hardly get my rain jacket on without some of my cuban colleague's help. it just gives a sense of the power of this storm and what cuba is experiencing right now. a lot of people have evacuated here. some people are staying. it's going to be incredibly powerful storm here and it's going to go on for several hours. >> yeah, do you have a sense of what conditions are expected in the hours ahead and how long it may be hitting cuba hardest? you know, i think we'll be going through this until tomorrow, if not longer. all day long, government officials have been coming by in trucks with speakerphones telling people to evacuate. you've been seeing people put all their positions in horses

and carts. the cuban government says 250,000 people have evacuated. the government has brought in a lot of resources just outside where we think cubans will be hardest hit. you get the resources in immediately after the storm, making some repairs. they have a lot of experience here with hurricanes, anderson. of course, there's not anywhere you can run to. but a storm like this is few people here, even in cuba, haven't received. >> patrick, be careful out there. again, a projected cat 5 when irma hits the keys. everyone is supposed to be off the island chain by then. bill weir is in the keys for us. there a hunkered down, trying to ride this out. has the sense of urgenly there increased tonight? >> reporter: absolutely, anderson. you can feel it. we've been here for 36 hours or

so. in the beginning, they were raising rum drinks and making fun of those who evacuated prematurely, they said. but in the last several hours, as these reports came in, the traffic on u.s. 1 heading north is noticeably heavier. a man on his motorcycle said i was going to ride it out, now i have to get out. below us, a stunning sort of prototypical key west sunset happening back there. but there's nobody in mallory square, trust me, watching that with a boat drink tonight. in fact, many of them brought their cars here. and this shows the desperation when you live inches above sea level. this is one of the mountain tops where we are, right up against the bridge. and people have parked their cars and jammed them in. that jeep wrangler, that guy took the winch and latched it around the guard rails as a piece of protection against

category 5 winds. >> so bill, for those who haven't listened to authorities to evacuate, what option dols they have? if that's the best place to be parking your vehicle, that doesn't seem very good. >> reporter: i would hazard to guess that these people did evacuate but couldn't bring their cars with them. so this is the best they could do. as for people who are deciding to come and maybe pull these cars out of here, the highway is wde open, pretty much from here to lower dade county, to get you at least out of the keys. i think that's what the governor and more and more first responders are saying. it's no longer time to mess around. get out! and these are storm-seasoned cops down here. they're used to the sea and the sky turning on them after a day's fishing or diving. but this is a whole different

level of dangerous. >> bill, i've got to ask you, are you and your team going to be leaving the keys at some point? >> reporter: as soon as i'm done talking to you, we're headed north. if you look at the predictions, we've been very careful to check with our meteorology team as for the timing of this. i think we'll be safe until the wee hours of tomorrow morning. we might be reporting from the very tip of the keys to give you a sense of what it's like, but we plan to head up north to ride out the storm. >> that gives you a sense of what is ahead if our team is pulling out. bill, stay safe. the storm surge would be bad on both coast. however, the hurricane's latest track suggests it could especially ban on the gulf scene. drew griffin joins us now. you've been talking to residents in naples. how are they feeling knowing

they could take a direct hit? >> reporter: there was a big, big change how they viewed the storm. when it began, anderson, to make that westward tilt. it looked like it was going to be a miami storm, an east coast storm. when it began to tilt west on thursday, a little more today, people jumped into action. a lot of the barrier islands have undergone mandatory evacuation. the lower levels that normally flood or get storm surge have been under mandatory evacuation. and this is downtown naples, the it will palm trees on a friday night. virtually nobody here. the people who are here generally believe they can ride out the storm surge. everybody in a mobile home park in collier county has been told to leave. we took a look at mobile home parks and it looks like they are empty. we found a few people moving

out. this is joe and his mother, sue. joe works at a beachfront hotel. that hotel said get out. so he's making evacuation plans. they're going up to ft. myers, where sue is going to have four people and a bunch of pets in a one-bedroom apartment why they plan to ride out the storm. >> you do what you have to do. you do what you have to do. and we'll do the best that we can. if things don't work out, we did the best. >> reporter: they are doing the best they can. i don't see anybody really saying this is just going to be a blow-off storm. they remember the track. they remember charley from 2004. and they are getting out or hunkering down for this storm. >> just in terms of those who are staying or feel it's too late to get out, is there a place they can seek shelter? are there city run shelters?

>> reporter: at 6:40 tonight, collier county opened up three new shelters. they've got plenty of shelters. shelters with pets, but they are starting to fill up. it just shows you how serious people are taking it here on the west coast of florida. so three more shelters opening up tonight. the emergency management seems to be on top of this and taking this in an orderly fashion. gas is going to be a huge deal over the next couple of days, anderson. you have to drive all over the place to find gas. that's going to limit the kind of mobility and decision making for people who want to get out of here. they might look at the gas stations that are closed and say i have no idea where i'm going if there's no gas and just stay. anderson? >> once this thing starts, the roads themselves could be cut off and blocked. that's the first thing emergency responders are going to be working on just getting roads clear. drew, we'll continue checking in with you. just ahead, we've been

checking in with noaa hurricane hunters who are flying through this storm or over this storm. we'll talk to another one just ahead. and we'll go to barbuda, which took a direct hit and is now bracing for jose. we'll be right back from miami beach. ♪ we are not here to sit idly by. we are here...to leave a mark. experience a shift in the natural order. experience amazing. super-cool notebooks, done. that's mom taking care of business. and with the "25 cent event", office depot officemax takes care of mom! now, all this just 25 cents each! ♪ taking care of business when only the best will do... one of a kind tempur-pedic delivers. only tempur material precisely conforms to your weight, shape and temperature. it provides up to twice as much pressure relieving power, so you won't toss and turn.

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just a whisper of the winds to come. many people have left miami beach as hurricane irma approaches. other state, federal, and local people are getting ready to respond when it hits. with me now, someone that has overseen preparations and at times the recovery effort, cnn contributor and former state emergency management director, david halstead. also is josh halstead, mayor of hollywood, florida. first of all, how are things in hollywood? here in miami beach, there's dunes. but in hollywood, there's a beautiful board walk right on the beach. >> a 2 1/2 mile board walk with hundreds of businesses, hotels, shops right on the sandy beach. there's no barrier to protect like here in miami beach. >> how are preparation there is? >> happy to report that people are taking this very seriously. most buildings, if not all of them, are boarded up.

people have evacuated. we have 16,000 residents within the evacuation zone. so people are taking this very seriously. >> at this point in an emergency response, what are first responders doing at this point? obviously, they're still trying to encourage people to leave in these last hours or two. >> absolutely. the mayor and i were just talking about that. the first priority is get them out. y if you can, get them to a shelter as quickly as possible. and secondly, the first responders immediately afterwards, what are they going to do? how quickly can they respond? what are the damages to the police stations, firestations and their equipment before they can get out and start answering 911? the other part, is the communications going to be up and running? >> in many storms, first responders say during the storm it's too dangerous to go out. if you call, they won't be able

to get to you. >> after hurricane ivan, we heard 911 calls that were heartbreaking. no ma'am, no, sir, we couldn't get out on the road if we wanted to. but immediately after the storm, that's where the mayor and his team come in very quickly, those first responders get out. >> it's essential to get roads clear. until roads are cleared, you can't do much of anything. >> sure. that counts for first responders, the power company, let alone to people that want to get to a different destination. >> what is your message to folks listening in this area? >> we're watching very closely the forecast track. people shouldn't think of this track that is not going to severely impact southeast florida. so stay in place, and be ready to brace for impact tomorrow.

it's a very serious occurrence. this storm may jog 50 miles left or right and we may get a direct hit. >> i think back to punta gorda in 2005 with charley, it wasn't expected to hit as hard as it did. what is your message? >> absolutely. if you haven't evacuated, it's probably a little too late. so get to a shelter. listen to all the locals, such as the mayor, what they're telling you to do. >> i wish you the best in the hours ahead. thank you very much. as we wait for conditions on the ground to worsen, and they are going to over the next 48 hours, air force pilots and been flying above the storm. joining me now is major nicole mitchell, air force reserve meteorologist. she's just crossed the eye. how is it up there, how strong is it?

[ indiscernible ] -- 10,000 feet, over 170 miles per hour. so still a very intense storm. >> forecasters have said the storm is expected to strengthen back into a cat 5 before making landfall in florida. does the data you're collecting back up that prediction? [ indiscernible ] -- i will say between ourselves and also there's been another flight in there, the pressure has appeared to have dropped slightly in the last couple of hours. but as i said --

it would be up to the national hurricane sent tore make that call. >> you were able to make it to the eye of the storm. is it still so well defined, what they call a stadium eyewall? what does it look like? >> yes. we were just -- as the sun was going down, the stadium is because -- it is kind of curved around you. we definitely saw that. we also had some lightning as we went in, which you don't always see on a tropical system. those e that eyewall is very well defined. i actually flew charley back in 2004. something about this that is different -- [ indiscernible ]

-- i can tell you, this is a larger storm than charley was. >> you may have said this, and i apologize if you did, because i can't hear you as well as our viewers probably can, how far across is this eye? how big is it? >> the eye is 35 miles across. but we want to emphasize that this is a large storm. >> listen, we all appreciate all the information that you an your colleagues gather. just ahead, we'll what the national hurricane center is doing with that data and check in with the top official there. there are grave concerns about one of florida east best known inland bodies of water and whether it could overwhelm the surrounding area. that's ahead. my dell small business advisor

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let's get the latest from ed rappaport from the national hurricane center. what is the most important message for floridians to know based on the latest forecast you have? >> our greatest concern, as it off is for florida, is for the storm surge. in this case, what we're expecting is a life threatening storm surge along the coast in southeast florida, around the southwest part of the state and the florida keys. five to ten feet of surge on the east coast, 6 to 12 feet on the west coast, and have some video that we can play in the video showing what storm surge looks like and what it can do. >> and just in terms of that storm surge, do you have a sense of how long that water would be on the ground for? >> it depends. typically we see half the rise of the storm surge in the 12 hours leading up to landfall.

perhaps the other 50% in that last hour the eyewall comes ashore. how long it takes to clear is how long the winds persist and how long it takes to drain out after the storm passes. >> and, again, if i remembera does strengthen and hit as a category 5, how long would it stay that way when it hits florida? >> not for very long. so at this point, we indicated there will be fluctuations and there will be some more. we expect the landfall of category 4 or 5, but it won't make a difference overall. it's going to be a devastating storm before it hits the florida kees. whether the center goes will determine whether we have category 3 or 4 on the east coast or the west coast, with the reverse being category 1 or

2. >> also, when you talk about storm surge in an area like miami beach, it's not just the coast on the beach, where you're getting water coming up. there's a lot of inlets, bays, canals throughout miami. you'll see storm surge there, correct? >> that's right. that's why we see some of the size of the colored area varies. it depends on the slope of the land, it depends whether they're canals and rivers. but there are several miles worth of land that are susceptible storm surge on the east coast, and many more on the west coast. but the greatest risk is going to be for the florida keys. most of them are on the order of 5 or 10 feet high, so we're talking about a 5 or 10 foot rise of water. plus waves on top of that. so that's where we have the greatest concern, at least first.

>> there just respect the buiar buildings that can sustain that. ed rappaport, we'll check back with you throughout the night and the days ahead. florida's governor said tonight what he said all day to anyone facing evacuation orders, get out now. in central florida, many are heeding that warning. one vulnerable place is lake okeechobee, where flooding is a concern. thousands were evacuated from there. miguel, what is it like there? >> reporter: anderson, the area just immediately south of lake okeechobee, nowhere is safe. not just because the storm may pass right overhead, but because of the rainwater irma will bring. it could flood the lake, swell it, destroying dozens of communities. in central florida, entire families fleeing the path of the storm. how old are you? >> 5. >> reporter: 5.

how do you feel right now? >> leaving. >> reporter: we're leaving, she says, much of the county is now under a mandatory evacuation. where are you going? >> we're going -- i don't know exactly where they're going to take us. >> reporter: the county here is rural, agricultural, immigrants, and largely poor. many people without cars of their own, met at a local staging area to be bussed with police escorts to higher ground. if a storm hits here and destroys everything, what happens to this community and these people? >> it goes down. the mill will shut down, the school. it will really destroy the whole town. >> reporter: emergency workers preparing for the worst case scenario. >> it is highly recommended that you leave. no one knows what is going to

happen with the storm. >> reporter: the risk here, twofold. one, the area is right on the path of the storm. the other, lake okeechobee is held back by 143 miles of levies, built since 1930. they were improved in recent years. but -- >> you don't know whether the storm or the possibility of a breach is your problem. >> right now it's both. we could see lots of water if it stays on its current track. and it is also what happens on the north end. >> reporter: the watershed feeding lake okeechobee could fill it to the breaking point. the enormous but shallow lake can hold another three feet of water and should withstand the storm. some here are counting on it. >> we've been here all these years. the storm ain't never been this big. so i figure -->> reporte

>> reporter: if you're wrong? >> if i'm wrong? i won't be here. >> reporter: miguel, it's important to point out a lot of people don't have vehicles. they can't just get in the wcar and drive off. how difficult has it been to evacuate that area? >> reporter: it's been tough. the level of creole and spanish spoken there is tough. police are trying to get people out of trailer homes out of there first. but people are reluctant to board buses and go to shelter areas, to be driven 40 or 50 miles away. so those cultural barriers were difficult to overcome. but there were hundreds, if not thousands of people i saw bus after bus, city buses, school buses getting out of there. there were some people in town refusing to leave. so they are rolling the dice at this point. but most people it seems heeded the warning and did get out. anderson? >> miguel marquez, i appreciate

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you can see winds starting to pick up here a little more in miami beach, a taste of what is to come. we heard from an air force meteorologist on the flight through the hurricane a few moments ago. but that's only part of the federal storm effort. u.s. naval vessels have been moved into position. our barbara starr joins us from the pentagon with details on that. just explain which military resources are going to be available to help. >> reporter: well, anderson, tonight the u.s. navy aircraft carrier, an aircraft carrier, "abraham lincoln" is steaming towards the impact zone. it is joining six other warships in the region. why an aircraft carrier? why these warships? because they'll have several

dozen helicopters on board. they will be able to go sh ship-to-shore on continuous missions. they will be able to evacuate the ill and injured. they will be able to bring ashore aid and assistance. they will have fema people that will help potentially get ports and airports back up and running. one of them already is off the virgin islands tonight and is evacuating people who are medically unable to stay in that area. in addition, we are seeing the air force begin to assemble a fleet of large cargo planes as far away as illinois and california. these cargo plane also come in and bring in vehicles and other equipment that they can move in rough terrain. one of the big challenges will be to get medical care up and rubbing and get airfields up and running.

they have the capability to open these runways if it is destroyed in the hurricane. they will be able to get it up and running within hours. that will be very important to getting these cargo planes in and to get other assistance in. anderson? >> there are a number of military installations here in florida. macdill air force base, homestead air reserve base. what is the latest on the preps there as well as evacuation? >> reporter: macdill air force base, home to the central command, which is running the wars overseas. they've evacuated out some of their command. hundreds of aircraft, ships and submarines have moved out of the impact zone, along with tens of thousands of military personnel, along with civilians throughout

the area. >> barbara starr, appreciate that update. joining me now is craig fugate. and back with us here in miami is david halstead. craig, you heard barbara starr talking about the military assets poised to help. obviously, fema likes to preposition resources as close as they can. but when you have a storm this size that is going to hit as big an area of florida, that has to be extremely difficult. >> yeah. we've done exercises on this. the challenges with the hurricane coming up, you didn't drive resources staged to go south. that's why you have to have aircraft, because what may happen is for south florida, they're going to have to supply teams and supplies in, while teams further north are waiting for the storm to pass to respond south. >> and also just in terms of fema has search and rescue teams that they pulled from all over the country. are those assets already in

place in florida? >> a lot of them are already staged, but they're air transportable. so i would imagine what fema is doing is looking at this from the stand point how do they get teams hardest hits and fastest. and two of those teams are based in miami. miami-dade county has one of the task forces. the other one is the city of miami and the surrounding communities. florida has other cities with urban search and rescue teams. so those will be the first on the ground. >> david, you've seen a lot of storms in your work here for the state. what worries you as you look at this storm? >> i think craig hit the nail on the head. we worry about it coming up through the state, unable to get resources back to it. but i used to have a diabolicals

to, craig fugate. he had us plan for a hurricane called "oh, no." >> just planning for the worst possible. >> planning for the worst, getting the team local, involving the locals with the planning process. the herbert hoover dike. this is not something that has not been gone unplanned for in the past. we have a plan to go into the keys, exactly as administrator long is doing right now. that is getting aircraft carriers and other large ships that can bring resources in. >> we'll talk to administrator long later on in the broadcast. david, just initials of getting people to leave, the folks who decide to say, who say they can ride it out, we hear from first responders, that can be a drain on resources. they think they're doing it for themselves. that can have a ripple effect on first responders needing to spend time to rescue them. how much of a problem is that

for emergency personnel? >> it ends up being a large problem. as we talked in the earlier segment, what happens if communications goes down? now we have someone who needs he help. how do they get that notice out? people have to think beyond i just want to ride the storm out. what happens when the first responders come into a dangerous area to have to bring you out? that is taking resources from other folks that perhaps need 911 right now. >> craig, for fema, how difficult is it just getting accurate information? obviously you get information through the different cities and local and state actors. but just trying to organize things immediately after and even during the storm, how tough is that? >> it's never easy. that's why the governor and the florida team are doing this. we learned this after katrina. we can't wait for formal

requests to come in. they have teams ready to go. and something that dave and i figured out a long time ago, we can't wait for assessments. we have to roll as quickly as the winds permit. we respond based upon the projected impact. if we wait for the facts to come up, it's too late. this is something we've learned in florida, something that fema does. the skies won't be clear. we'll roll as soon as we can get people on the road that's safe enough to go. but we're going to respond to the area of impact like it's bad but we cannot wait for the formal requests to come up and we have to roll as one team. >> i appreciate your time. up next, an update from the ground in barbuda. cnn has one of the few yous on the ground there today to get a sense of the scope of the destruction. one eyewitness said the island looked like a garbage disposal. the prime minister said as many

as 95% of the structures from his initial estimate seemed to be damaged or destroyed. we'll get an update from the ground, ahead. hi! okay, so you've got two friends here. yes. this is the j.d. power award for dependability. now, i want you to give it to the friend that you think is most dependable. ohhhh. ughh. wow. that's just not fair. does she have to? she doesn't have to! oh, i don't? no, but it's a tough choice, isn't it? yes. well luckily, chevy makes it a little easier. cause it's the only brand to earn j.d. power dependability awards for cars, trucks and suvs - two years in a row. that's amazing. you want something that's dependable. that's the whole point. yeah! we just got to take it one game at a time. next question. odell! can you repeat everything you just said? my livestream won't load. (blows whistle) technical foul! wrong sport. wrong network. see, you need unlimited on verizon. it's america's largest, most reliable 4g lte network. it won't let you down in places like this. even in the strike zone! it's the red zone. pretty sure it's the strike zone. here, use mine. all right. see you on the court, champ. heads up!

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beginning to look toward rebuilding. but many, of course, are starting from almost nothing. and there is the other hurricane, jose to worry about. in a moment we'll get an update from barbuda. but first let's check from the bahamas where many of the evacuees from the smaller islands have ended up. cyril is there now. what are the conditions like there now, cyril? >> waiting for the storms. the winds have really begun to pick up here. but we're waiting for the worst of it. i'm going to be one of the more encouraging probably reports that you're going to get this evening, which is that the forecasts here in the bahamas have been proved slightly wrong but in a good way. the winds we're going get here are not going to end up being the hurricane-force winds that we were hearing 24 hours ago. we're talk tropical storm-force winds. i just spoke to the person who is looking at this, tracking this hour by hour. we're not expecting in the

capital of nassau anything that would threaten a structure of buildings. so what we're looking at, there is still a possibility of floods there is still a possibility of rainfall, although we haven't seen much of that yet. it's going to happen throughout the night. so people are doing one of two things right now. either they're regrouping, and whoever has the strongest home, the safest place to be. or they are going, for some of them, we're talking a few hundred, maybe a few thousand people in one of the 24 or so shelters that are dotted across the capital of nassau. a cnn team went there today. those people for the moment pretty grateful towards the government that they have organized this. they're just wondering what if, what damage if any they're going to find to their home when they wind up going back there. >> well, good news there for the bahamas. cyril vanier, i appreciate that. now i want to go to barbuda, where obviously the news has not been good. an estimated 95% of buildings were damaged, according to the prime minister. now it's another -- under another hurricane watch for

category 4 hurricane jose. leyla santiago is one of the few journalists to get on to the island today. she joins me now from nearby antigua. leyla, what was it like? >> you know, anderson, we were there as people were evacuating with the few bags of belongings they had left. there was a lot of anxiety, a lot of people overwhelmed by what the future may hold. one man saying he was reminded that nature is truly powerful. and when you ask them what would you say to people in florida, they told us get out. you do not want to be in irma's path. once a caribbean getaway surrounded by turquoise water, now demolished, left desolate, unrecognizable by hurricane irma. this is the shocking view as we fly on to the island of barbuda. jerome teague says hurricanes are a way of life here. but not this one.

>> this is the worst one i ever see. >> reporter: and this could get worse, as the hurricane-ravaged island braces for jose. those who braved irma now arriving in antigua, evacuated to escape a second major hit. elvis burton is determined to protect the place he has called home for 12 years. at least what's left of it. he evacuated, but returned to find a home no longer livable, savaged by nature. >> it's my home. i have to try and save it. >> reporter: even more are determined to safe lives, get people out of barbuda, save the people who seem to have lost it all. it's hard to imagine an island now rubble, an island now home to nearly 2,000 residents could get any worse than it already is. but the prime minister has said 95% of the buildings are damaged. and it will be quite the rebuilding effort. more than $100 million to get this the way it once was. barbuda looks like a war zone?

>> like a war zone. everything is blown up. >> reporter: this is the wrath of irma, now on the move. irma has shown her strength. the reason so many fear what is headed to florida. >> leyla, you talked about people being evacuated. go ahead. >> i was just going to mention quickly, the government here asking people in antigua to help. one of the nice comments i heard from someone today, someone is saying we are sister nations. and the only thing that separates us is water. so there is a lot of anxiety among the people of barbuda. but it is sort of nice to see people coming together on this island to help out the nearly 2,000 residents. right now. >> we certainly wish them the best. they're going to need a lot of that in the weeks and months

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we're live tonight in miami beach where a lot of folks have already evacuated, and others are hunkered down waiting for hurricane irma as it approaches. a message tonight that could be life-saving. it comes from florida's governor, and it's as simple as life or death. he says if you have been ordered to evacuate, leave now. not tonight. not in an hour, now. the storm is now expected to grow back to category 5 force as it slams into the florida keys. in terms of evacuations, though, law enforcement is saying the window for that is closing. and at some point tonight very shortly, it is going to be too late. and you just need to hunker down and do what you can. and we're actually getting