. >> leaving it much later. officials are saying it becomes very difficult and very problematic. seek one of the 43 or so shelters in miami-dade that are very packed. they have capacity for a million people or so. there is plenty of space.

if you are thinking of traveling north, perhaps a warning you may be getting slightly too late because of the long lines we have been seeing in the i-95 and main motor way. being bumper-to-bumper in the motorways. it is not going as quickly. remember, this is in many ways a mass exodus that we're seeing here in florida. so worth bearing that in mind. on the ground we are starting to feel the first effects, the initial impact of hurricane irma. this, of course, is just the beginning. let's find out how hurricane irma and how its path and where it is going and strength. karen maginnis is joining me now. karen? >> we lost our signal from isa. she was asking about the latest

regarding the hurricane. here are a couple of developments with the florida keys. it was the first area to have mandatory evacuation. they are seeing tropical storm force wind gusts. we have gusts around 55 miles per hour. the hurricane is still 275 miles away. all right. it made landfall along the coast of cuba. it will start to make a turn more toward the west/northwest before going northwest. some time, sunday, early in the morning, it will move across the florida keys. then briefly move out into the open waters of the gulf of mexico. very briefly. it is not moving way out in the gulf. just offshore and perhaps making a second land fall in the vicinity of naples, florida and hugging the counties before making its way in south georgia. south georgia and south carolina

have prepared and shutdown some of the schools and some of the offices in preparation for the potential for what remains from irma. now let's talk about what's happened in dade county. we had one strong band of storms move through. now we have another one. still probably another 45 minutes to an hour before we see this first little out lying band move across south dade county. already about 10,000 people without power in dade county. this was from an outer band. we are not looking at the hurricane across the peninsula of florida. so here it is through the florida strait as we look at the future radar. sunday morning across the florida keys, perhaps is a category five. maybe a category four. it is still a major hurricane. then moving on in in the vicinity of naples, florida.

this is different from the early computer models. we are seeing a landfall around miami. you have to shift conditions from what you put in with the models. look at the next 48 hours. this is not a five-day event, but the next 48 hours. naples, florida, 10 inches of rainfall. ft. pierce, 6 inches. you can see the western edge is now really kind of the critical path for the system. this is the european model. there we go through the florida keys. there we go in the vicinity of ft. myers. here is the split right down the florida peninsula. still the impact from hurricane force winds on the eastern side. don't feel like you have been duped by this. you feel the impact from the category five hurricane, maybe category four.

take a look once again. draw a line down the middle. here is the eye through the florida keys. here is naples. this is the tampa bay and sarasota area, more to the western edge. if you have folks or family or friends who live there, see how they are because there have been about 5.5 million people across florida that the governor says you have to get out. you have to because this is a monster system. it is not like andrew back in 1992. you could have two andrews that would be the size of what irma looks like. the power outages will continue. we will see lots of storm surge here. along the western edge. isa and michael, storm surge could be 10 to 15 feet. so we're looking at under water situations and not just along the coast, but even inland. back to you, isa.

>> thanks very much, karen. really staggering when you put it in perspective. 10 to 15 feet. really just makes you think of just your options and what you should be doing. the national weather service said at 5:00 local, this is as real as it gets. nowhere in the florida keys is safe. you still have time to evacuate. some people decided not to evacuate. some people decided to stay put. one person is andy. he is joining me now on the phone from miami beach. andy, tell us why you decided to stay put. >> good morning, isa. good morning to your viewers. decided to stay put because moving would be even worse. pinning the tail on this donkey

hasn't been easy. i have been through many storms. andrew. i am prepared. i'm on the ninth floor. i'm away from the storm surge. hopefully my high-impact windows and sliding doors will be okay. >> andy, when you say moving would be worse. what do you mean by that? >> caller: i remember people getting stranded up in the highways without gas, food, water. i didn't want to be one of those. i prepared for years knowing that another andrew could come in. i just sold my house last week which was totally prepared and

completely survival mode. i took some of that to my new apartment in miami beach and south beach. i have remnants of that like a big battery with a lot of amps and other items of necessity. even a shortwave radio. citizen band radio if i'm stranded. looks like the storm is heading west and we will be spared the brunt of it. although this is a monster storm, i don't think anybody is going to escape it. i start to see the winds pick up and there is a lightning show you would not believe looking south. it's quite ominous. >> yeah, i can see the lightning to my right. i've been seeing lightning for the past three hours or so,

andy. it sounds to me you are very prepared for this, but like you said, this is a monstrous storm. at any point, andy, did you think i should seek shelter and if so, when did you make that call? >> caller: that's a good question. i have been -- yesterday, around the ghost town in south beach and miami beach is a ghost town. it is a bikers' paradise. during that bike ride, i saw and asked about shelters. i actually went through and in front of one. it is on ground level. only six blocks from the ocean. that doesn't seem very smart to me. that's the fact. i'm on the ninth floor. i would rather stay dry and

instead of being down there facing ten feet of water. it's not fun. i don't think that's a good idea. but anyway some people don't have anything and that shelter might be their life saver. >> very much so. andy, i appreciate you taking the time to pespeak to us. wish you the best of luck. keep us posted on how you are doing in the hours ahead, andy. i appreciate your time. >> caller: will do. >> let's go back to michael in orlando. michael, as were you saying, it is his decision. he is prepared. he has seen what andrew can do. he says he is staying on the ninth floor. it is what authorities have been saying. if you decide to stay, be prepared and be aware we may not be able to come to you should you need our help.

>> it's a big risk. a lot of people we have been speaking to in the last few hours are determined to stay and comfortable with that decision. we have to see how it plays out. isa, thanks so much in miami. let's go to the bahamas. we have stefano there with us. nassau is not a stranger to hurricanes. how are they dealing with what is happening? how are they dealing with irma? >> michael, what we have experienced is especially in the last few hours is definitely a sense of relief. nassau and the northern part of the bahamas has been spared by the worst burden of the brunt of irma. we have been speaking with the officials of the emergency

management agency who organized evacuations. the largest evacuations ever come through in the history of the islands. the island is almost completely evacuated. they were ready to face a category four hurricane such as irma as we were expecting right here in nassau. that is happening. we experience winds because a tropical storm has significant winds. but the population here really had a sense of coming together and facing this challenge in the most successful way. it was some sense of pride of how to prepare, michael. >> all right, stefano. thank you. irma left the island of barbuda

barely inn has beenableaareleaa. at least one person died, but when you see the scale of the damage, that seems incredible as well. that is drone video there shot by cnn. shows almost every house ripped open or completely destroyed. barbuda is not safe yet. hurricane jose is expected to hit on saturday as a category four storm. i spoke with michael joseph. the president of the red cross in antigua and barbuda. i started asking him about the most immediate needs there. >> as it stands right now, we have gotten it immediately covered. we have been evacuated the entire island of barbuda. there has been the outpouring of support from the local antigua

government. we have food coming in. we have clothing. we have baby supplies and toilet items coming in. the immediate needs are covered. what we need right now is barbuda shelter. getting back to the livelihood. as it stands now, they are pretty much in antigua and barbuda they are not doing what they normally would do. >> tell me a little bit more. we see the pictures, but try to give me a sense of what is left there in barbuda. what is there in terms of infrastructure and in terms of businesses? >> there is nothing left in b barbu barbuda. it is about 95% damaged. the better word is 95% destroyed. there is no damage. damage is when you can repair something. this is desolation.

this is pushed back into privative days. you have to rebuild schools, churches, homes. you have to build the entire country. everything that would be accomplished over the many, many years to 2017. it is all back to square one with barbuda. >> just defies belief when you put it that way. tell us a bit about the spirit of the people there. the willingness to rebuild. determination. are you detecting that? >> yes.

barbu barbudans are determined people. to wake up one day and after they realize that you have to move everybody from country and you will have to go into another country and pretty much just be easier with a new life. so barbudans are trying to figure out how to rebuild and when they can rebuild. some of them -- 95% of the buildings are destroyed. many still want to live in whatever is left. that's just how much pride they have and love they have in barbuda. >> it's a remarkable spirit. i have to mention hurricane jose. after dealing with something like this, the devastation. what is it like to know another one is on the way? >> i think that's why the government made the decision to

evacuate the entire island because we consider what happened after hurricane irma to be a very, very fortunate and miraculous event. the fact you have 95% of an entire country destroyed overnight and only have one facility. the government ordered everybody evacuated so we can have safety and security. there is no category for a hurricane. >> and that was michael joseph speaking to me earlier. he is the president of the red cross in antigua and barbuda. describing the devastation that the hurricane caused there. when we come back, those remaining in miami are starting to feel hurricane irma as the monster storm heads toward florida after the break, we are back with isa soares in miami.

you won't see these folks they have businesses to run. they have passions to pursue. how do they avoid trips to the post office? stamps.com mail letters, ship packages, all the services of the post office right on your computer. get a 4 week trial, plus $100 in extras including postage and a digital scale. go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again. welcome back. south florida hours away from taking a direct hit from

hurricane irma which is back to a category five. there's no real expectation it will weaken. we have a pretty good idea of what to expect. i'll show you pictures from antigua. look at the boats there. big boats flipped upside down like toys. no match for a storm like this. this video from the british virgin islands what hour after hour of category five wind will do. just have a look at that. the aftermath of the surreal landscape with hillside structures gone. really reduced to splinters. let's go back to isa soares in miami where the winds have been picking up. the rain has been falling and no doubt a lot of anticipation of what might be to come. >> very much so, michael. we are looking less than 24 hours before hurricane irma makes landfall here. the mood has changed somewhat in the last six to seven hours. not just the mood, but also the

weather. in the last four to five hours since we have been here, the winds have gbegun to pick up. we have a battering of rain in the last three hours. torrential rain too. and next to me, don't take my word for it, the sea has gone more stormy and agitated and tempestuous. and we are seeing the thunder to the right. that is the beginning of what is hurricane irma. also in terms of the mood here in miami, it has gone from one of preparedness to one of agita agitation. police have told people, this is not the time to be unsure. police have been going door-to-door here in miami telling people to evacuate. more than 5.6 million people

have been ordered to evacuate. florida, we do not know how many have been heeding that warning. i can tell you looking at miami, it is like a ghost town. majority of people are not here. majority of people have gone to shelters with the 40 plus shelters around. that is the hope for many officials. police basically saying if you are not hunkering down and not going to the shelters, you need to be making a decision and making a decision fast. let's get more from derek van dam from miami beach. derek, we know what it is like where you are, but you are by miami beach. this time on a saturday morning, i can imagine it would be packed with people drinking and partying. it is quite a different scene i imagine. >> yes. speaking of ghost towns, isa, this is classic. literally there are no people out and it is 4:00 in the morning on the south beach.

it would normally be incredibly be busy this time of morning because people getting out of bars and restaurants. a lively morning on a saturday morning. typically not today. good thing they heeded the warnings. by the way, 5.6 million people ordered to evacuate. depending on how the numbers play out would be the largest united states evacuation in history. that is ahead of hurricane rita in 2005. that is a staggering amount of numbers. within the past three hours, some of the first outer bands of hurricane irma make the way into the miami dade county region. the temperature dropped 10 to 15 degrees instantly. the wind picked up gusting over 35 miles per hour with some of the little bands that came through. that is a taste of what's to come. we know that the storm track has moved ever so slightly to the

west. that has big ramifications for where the center of the storm will go. that is where we find the strongest winds. category five winds. 155 miles plus. it looks to be naples into clearwater and south of the tampa region. that is why the national weather service recently upgraded from hurricane watch to hurricane warning as far as tampa. and storm surge warnings in effect across the region as well. what we are expecting on the west coast of the florida peninsula. 8 to 12 feet inn undagundation. one thing for sure, a lot of forward momentum with hurricane irma. it had time to push up the ocean. we expect the storm surge and heavy rainfall to be a threat in less than 24 hours.

isa. >> thank you, derek van dam. we will have more on hurricane irma after a short break. stay right here with cnn. ♪ whoa that's amazing... hey, i'm the internet! i know a bunch of people who would love that. the internet loves what you're doing... ...so build a better website in under an hour with... ...gocentral from godaddy. type in your idea. select from designs tailored just for you and publish your site with just a few clicks-even from your... ...mobile phone. the internet is waiting start for free today at godaddy.

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this is cnn breaking news. >> welcome back to our continuing coverage of hurricane irma. i'm isa soares in miami, florida where theit is 4:31 in the morn. >> it is getting to be a bit like that, isa. i'm michael holmes in orlando. it is also 4:31 here. we will update you on irma's

progress. the monster storm, and that's what it is really, on a collision course with this state. florida. it is set to hit within the next day. we have images from nasa showing the eye of the storm and its scale. it is huge. it has strengthened back to a category five storm and already devastated parts of the caribbean. i want to show you the scene in cuba where irma struck with sustained winds of 160 miles an hour. that is just less than 260 kilometers an hour. irma is responsible for 24 deaths in the caribbean. there is another major storm on its way. hurricane jose is now set to strike the region over the weekend. let's go back to isa in miami again. isa. >> thanks very much, michael. the winds have started to pick

up and we have already seen rain the last two hours or so. let's get the latest. karen maginnis is joining us from the world weather center. i know you have a new update for the u.s. viewers in the east coast. >> yes. isa, what we have seen, this dramatic, at least in my estimation, is how much irma has slowed down. over the past 12 hours, it was moving rather rapidly. about 18 miles an hour. our last update from the national hurricane center has it moving at 12 miles an hour. it has and interacting with land. you may expect to see the different changes to take place. here is a different view. this is a water vapor imagery. this is cuba. the north coast of cuba. there's the eye of irma that has made landfall there. reports are coming out of cuba that said the winds were so high it broke the anemometer.

the gauge that measures the wind speed. the wave heights were between 16 and 24 feet. this is a category five hurricane. now as we trek it going into the next 24 hours, there it is still more hugging right along the cuba coast and then it looks like it makes landfall around the florida keys. already in the florida keys, we have seen some wind gusts as high as 55 miles an hour. this is before the hurricane even gets there and we are looking at perhaps making a second landfall in the vicinity of naples, florida by early saturday afternoon. here is a different perspective. this is the northern coast of cuba. there it is as a category five. it goes to the florida strait. warm water temperatures. that's what it needs. it is interacting with different land masses. it interacted with the turks and

caicos and bahamas and made landfall in cuba. the trek shifted further west. now the western counties of florida. so saturated with many lovely communities and coastal areas that the storm surge here could be phenomenal. 8 to 12 feet. 10 to 15 feet. certainly possible. one other thing we don't typically mention until it starts happening is the upper right quad is when we start to see the tornadic active. with a system as large as this, you might expect it has a lot of deep tropical moisture. let's move over and show you what we can expect as far as irma is concerned and some of the wind and rainfall amounts. here is the wind we are expecting. you can see the white shaded area. wind gusts from the florida keys

all the way over to collier county and to the north with hurricane-force winds. and in the early morning hours on monday, we are looking at sarasota and expecting tropical storm possibly up to category one with hurricane-force winds. even into georgia and into south carolina where they made preparations for schools and businesses. it looks like even this is going to be impacting those areas going into the start of the workweek and mandatory evacuations in florida, michael, we saw 5.5 million people under mandatory evacuations there. >> staggering number, isn't it, karen? 5.6 million people told to leave their homes in a state of 20 million. the quarter of the population. we will check in with you in a bit. karen maginnis, thanks so much. i want to bring in mateus

cameron. he is part of the miami biltmore hotel. you decided to leave your home in key biscayne and go to the hotel. tell me how the day has unfolded for you. >> caller: good morning, michael. so far, so good. we have seen the winds pick up. we have had some heavy showers come through. it is still relatively calm here at the moment. >> now you have the hotel there. how many people are there and what preparations have you had to make? you had to make preparations on a rather grand scale. >> caller: we sure did. we have about 420 guests and 120 staff members on site and some 60 plus pets. we had the good fortune of time. we have been at this since monday evening and tuesday. we got into full gear. making sure we have all the

supplies following our emergency plans and getting ready for the event. >> how do you do that? the logistics are difficult, but you seem like you are organized and planned ahead. how do you plan the safety aspect of that? you literally have hundreds of people in the hotel. >> caller: well, we give them instructions as they check in. guidance in terms of what we would want them to do and not to do at the peak of the event. we have our team members, many have been with us for years so this is not the very first time for many of them. there's a certain experience that helps us. and again, you provide back ups to back ups.

we have portable generators. we have a large generator for the entire property. we have diesel pumps. we have a number of systems in place that should allow us to provide a very safe and somewhat comfortable environment while we are all going through this. >> i can imagine there's an element of comradery when you have all these people together. what is the mood like? any nervousness there? >> caller: absolutely. there are -- everybody handles this kind of stress differently. it is safe to say that it puts us in a great amount of stress on everybody. we have a very cohesive team and great ownership here on site. we are concerned. we are taking this very, very seriously, but we are going through this calm and collected

and we'll provide again a safe environment for our guests and our team members. >> you know you mentioned the pets. i have to ask you what is the most unusual one there. at the hotel i'm in in orlando, i shared an elevator with a guinea pig. what is your most unusual? >> caller: i don't think we can compare to that. i think we are pretty straight forward. mostly dogs and full of cats. >> well, okay. you can't beat the guinea pig. >> caller: not yet. >> you need room refresher after that guest leaves. great to talk with you mattias. i appreciate it. thanks. we are going to take a short break here and we'll be back with more full coverage of hurricane irma. do stick around. my name is jeff sheldon,

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welcome back, everyone.

cuba is already seeing damage as hurricane irma rips through with high winds and there has been flooding as well. our patrick oppman is following the storm near the cuban coast. he joins us now. you certainly had rough times a few hours ago. how are things now, patrick? >> much worse, michael. that gust was bad. the house and town where we have been reporting from is now under water. probably a good 3 to 4 feet of water. halfway up the first floor of the house. there is another floor on top of us. we should be okay here. it is tragic. you look down the street. we walked down the main street of the town and waves are rolling down it. you wonder if people were able to get out in time here. this is a category five storm that is barrelling down on cuba

right now. the most devastating category storm there is or hurricane there is. it will have catastrophic damage for cuba. it is not done with us yet. it is rolling up the coast here, michael. for the people whose path it is in, you have to pray for them. >> how prepared were people, patrick? everybody knew this was coming. what sorts of preparations were done? what preparations could be done given the circumstances? >> reporter: you know, the government was moving resources in. we saw trucks going by with loud speakers telling people to evacuate throughout the day. people were aware of the storm. some people told me they were not afraid. they did not want to leave their houses. we are in a cement house. we picked this house to stay here because of that. it will not blow down. there are hundreds of other homes in the town. thousands of other homes along

the area of cuba and coastline that are built out of wood and old and i saw houses that looked like they would fall apart in a light rain. this is not a light rain. this is the most serious hurricane that hit this island in many years. we have no words of injuries or deaths. you can only imagine for the people that are going through the long night that we just experienced, what a horrible experience that was and the morning they wake up to is not much better. >> and it is not done yet. daylight will reveal some of the extent occurred. patrick oppmann in cuba for us. you will bring us those reports i'm sure in the hours ahead. meanwhile, florida is staring down hurricane irma. now back as patrick said as a category five strength. those who cannot leave or chose not to, are starting to pour into emergency shelters. we'll talk to the city manager of north miami next. we'll be right back.

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i'm michael holmes in orlando, florida. as the category five storm moves to the florida keys, we are getting a closer look at the island of barbuda in the eastern caribbean. one of irma's first casualties. hardly any structure escaped being damaged or totally destroyed. the inside of the homes, have a look at that, did not fare any better. ru iined appliances and broken water lines. homeowners will be lucky to find any to salvage. >> let's get a look at how they are preparing for hurricane irma. with me now is the city manager of the city of north miami. we have larry spring on the phone. talk us through, larry, about the preparations leading up to the arrival of hurricane irma. >> caller: good morning, isa.

the city since probably last saturday has been working through the emergency management plan and assuring that we secured all of the city buildings and we have been communicating with our citizens and making sure they are prepared to weather the storm and be self sustained for 72 hours following the storm. in the last days, actually yesterday we wanted to go through the status in the eoc and we assisted the county and getting some evacuated citizens within our area into two shelters yesterday. we are really preparing ourselves and getting extra water stock and food preps and getting ready to bear down for the storm. >> and larry, you know we have been told that up to 5.6 million people have been ordered to evacuate in florida.

the majority of people heeding. have they heeded that warning? that advice? >> caller: well, actually i believe so. we are seeing in the two shelters normally in our city, we are seeing numbers that we typically would not see. in fact, last night, actually had to arrive with some additional staff from our city to help staff one of the shelters. they said they were looking at numbers that were already up to 1,000 in the shelters. >> and larry, there have been several people speaking to who are deciding to stay put. for those still undecided, what do you say to them at this hour? >> caller: we have kind of had that conversation internally. we said if you have been asked to evacuate, we are trying to get you to go. if you don't go, we cannot force you to leave. understand that once the storm gets here our police department

and our public works and our staff will not be able to provide any type of assistance until after the storm has passed. we don't know how quickly the thereafter. roads may be blocked and trees may be down. we are trying to clear the roads for emergency vehicles and all other resources to get the city back up and running. >> larry m. spring jr., i appreciate you taking the time to speak with us. i wish you the best of luck and everyone in north miami working to keep us safe. thank you very much. michael, like larry was saying, there is only so much you can say to people who want to stay put. you give them the advice and you tell them you may not come to their rescue if they need to. it is a personal decision and a risk for some people decided to stay put. >> exactly.

you know, they will find out one way or another if they have not been through a hurricane before. it will be quite a ride that is for sure. especially with irma. isa, thanks so much. florida and especially around where we are in orlando, a hot spot for amusement parks when it is not being hit by hurricanes. many people desperate to get out of the state right now. there are some tourists trying to get in. affiliate wsin spoke to a family that is going to disneyworld no matter what. >> we have never been through this before. we know people in the area. they went through matthew last year. they said it was a lot of strong winds. sunday and monday may be the days we lose. it is maybe a nine or ten-day vacation. we did not have the option to push it back unfortunately. >> many disney attractions, by the way, before you rush down to orlando, will be closed because of irma starting today.

saturday. the company says hotels will stay open through the weekend and hopes to resume normal operations by tuesday. and that is it for this hour of cnn newsroom. thanks for your company. i'm michael holmes in orlando. >> and i'm isa soares in miami. our continuing coverage of hurricane irma continues with "new day" next.

>> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. so grateful to have you with us as always, thank you for being here, i'm christi paul in atlanta, my colleague victor blackwell as you see in the thick of it. good morning, victor. >> good