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woman: archite. bee keeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help yolive your life. life well planned. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news". >> i am to me so must kinda in washington and this is bbc news america. hurricane idalia hit florida and barrows north with heavy wind and rain. >> i'm helen humphrey in florida where the scale of the destruction is clear. >> the bbc goes to the front lines of the war in ukraine amid

new waves of drone strikes. and the gabon military names a transitional leader after seizing power. the elected president appeals for help. welcome to world news america. we are following hurricane idalia as it reeks have it on southeastern u.s.. the storm moved through north florida to georgia where more than 100,000 people lost power. national hurricane center reported maximum sustained wind decreased to about 75 miles per hour down from 125's before it made landfall. florida officials say two men died in separate driving accidents caused by conditions from idalia. now a category one hurricane, idalia is losing strength but remains dangerously the worst of the storm passed florida's

capital of tallahassee and quickly headed towards georgia wednesday morning. brian kemp, georgia's governor, declared a state of emergency ahead of idalia's arrival. florida is now in the early stages of recovery after storms ripped through areas of pair he county seen here. officials say it was one of the most impacted areas so far and businesses caught on fire and had roofs damage. -- grooves damaged. crews are working on rescues and governor desantis gave an update short time ago. governor desantis: we have everybody from local law enforcement, local fire rescue, the national guard, fish and wildlife, waterborne rescue. and we have urban search and rescue teams. that is all there. so if you are in harm's way or payroll you can call the emergency line for a response. >> 5500 members of the florida national guard were deployed to affected areas. the governor said more than 275 people -- tune at 75,000 people

lost power but another quarter of a million already had power restored. some of florida's busiest airports in the storms pass our tampa, gainful, and tallahassee. they are expected to be reopened by thursday morning. more than 900 flights were canceled due to idalia. the storm hit home literally for desantis. the governor's wife posted this picture of what she said was a 100-year-old oak tree that fell on the governor's mansion in tallahassee. she and her family were not harmed in the incident. earlier wednesday fema administrator dan criswell provided updates on current response efforts in and around florida saying hurricane idalia is the songest storm to hit this part of florida in over 100 years and the peak storm surge could surpass 15 feet in some areas, 4.6 meters. more than 1500 federal personnel are currently deployed in florida including urban search and rescue teams. shortly after her briefing

president joe biden warrant hurricane doc -- born to idalia is still dangerous. >> it moved over land and shifted to category one but it is still dangerous with went up to 75 miles per hour. the impact of the storm will be felt throughout the southeast. even as it moves up the eastern coast of the united states affecting georgia, south carolina, and north carolina. we have to remain vigilant. there is more to do. >> in florida the bbc's helena humphrey is standing by in cedar key one of the hardest hit areas. what have you been seeing on the ground? >> the storm has passed this area, but now you can see we are starting to get limps of the destruction. it's bad. as you mentioned, this is one of the hardest hit areas. looking over my shoulder you can see these small structures by the coast. a brick structure completely hollowed out by hurricane wind. you can see all the bricks coming down. windows coming out.

doors lifted off their hinges. if you just take a look around here you can see sensually what the scene must have been the early hours of the morning with this microwave just tossed out. a flatscreen tv here. remnants of people's lives in the areas that have just been rendered completely on emma habitable -- uninhabitable. in this area you can see flattened branches. looking over the area you can see destruction. completely flattened area. rather poignantly in the center of that shot it says for sale. perhaps, somebody's dream home in this very coveted area along the coast. as we look in this direction you can then see the twin threats. this really wasn't the issue here. the storm surge. at some points, reaching seven feet. we know in this area, thankfully, everybody has been accounted for. some people said they did not want to leave. they were hoping to be able to

ride out a tropical storm as they had done in the past because this area has not seen a storm like this for over 125 years. looking at other parts of florida we are getting news that in st. petersburg 75 people had to be rescued on boats. a warning from president biden. that the danger from the hurricane is not over as it moves into georgia now as well bringing with it the path of destruction that we have seen here so clearly. >> can you tell us what is happening with powerlines in the area. we know that was one big concern. >> absolutely. we have already seen some authorities in the area starting to survey the area to make sure it is safe. you can see some electricity there down. we understand here, power is completely out. water is completely out. sewage is completely out. earlier this morning i was speaking to powerline workers in jacksonville, some 40,000 have

been deployed across the state and they say that a category storm you're talking three weeks. category four perhaps four weeks of repairs to do in an area like this. in rural areas, keep in mind, this is a rural area, you can have people sitting here in the dark for months. that is what somebody said to me. people with medical needs and so on. we are expecting a multitude of problems coming out of this as we see people waiting it out without their resources, without homes, without power in the weeks and months to come. >> helena humphrey in cedar key, florida. thank you for bringing us reporting from the ground. now let's turn to the mayor of tallahassee john need daily joining us on our program. mayer thank you for being on the bbc news for us. you are bracing for a direct hit in tallahassee and it looks like the hit moved southeast of your city. can you bring us up-to-date on the situation in tallahassee now? >> we got very lucky.

the storm moved around us. we were still hit. had damage. we are working hard to put the city back together. we were very lucky. most of the damage we have is not water related. it's wind related. we aren't a coaster community. we don't have to worry about storm surges as other communities had. we have to worry about wind. power lines, wind and trees do not mix. you showed the picture of the governor's mansion and the tree that fell. we are known for beautiful trees in our community. we had a lot of damage. we were out cleaning the streets. the city of tallahassee utility, the largest utility provider in the big bend region, we were out there restoring power and working hard to put the community back together. >> mayor you have been preparing fothis for weeks as it became clear this would be a huge storm. how quickly will you be able to rollout the response you prepared? >> we have already began rolling out the response and i have been very pleased. i give full credit to the

leadership. our city manager and the great men and women on the front lines have been preparing. we are a community of 200,000 in our city and another 100,000 in rural areas and 70,000 college students in tallahassee. we have been communicating upfront. from a utility perspective we increased the size of our utility department three full by reaching out to mutual aid agreements across the u.s.. as far away as nebraska, oklahoma, ohio, louisiana, kentucky, mississippi, bringing in additional help. as a result we were able to stage assets all over the community. as soon as it was safe, once the storm passed, they began immediately. about one third of our entire customer base lost power. we have already restored about 65%. they are doing great work. they will continue to work through the night and we will keep at it as long as we need to. we are very pleased with how the team has been responding thus

far. >> what is your biggest concern right now and your biggest priority? >> well, our number one priority is always health, safety, and welfare making sure residents are safe. having said that, you know, our -- my greatest concern right now is we still have to give time for the first responders, the electric utility crews, and the road crews to be able to clean up tallahassee. i am encouraging all citizens in our community to take the rest of the afternoon off. let's not drive around tallahassee to check damage. stay at home. take care of your family. take care of your neighbors. let's let the professionals have the opportunity to clean up so we can move forward. if we are all out and about we will just get in the way and it could be a dangerous situation. we are really pushing the message that we are concerned. everybody needs to take a deep breath and let the professionals clean up so we can move forward.

>> we saw press conferences held by the florida governor and the president today. do you have a sense at this point what kind of state and federal aid you need in tallahassee? >> we are still doing our assessment and i am proud we have open communication. i have spoke to the governor the past couple days. their team has been great to work wit we have open to munication and i had the opportunity to speak with the president's team today. both the federal and state government pledged support. they will be helping to put together the big bend region and i know i can speak for all my colleagues and mayors of other communities that we will need assistance. >> one more question. your city is not usually one that is hit by a storm of this size. what have you learned in the preparation and now witnessing the storm? for future storms like this? what great question. planning and communication is key. after every storm we go back and do and after report of what

worked and what did not work. what we need to tweak? what do we need to change? we try to make every event a learning event to better serve citizens in our community. observations. i have to tell you, these storms seem stronger and more intense every year. i have been a local elected official for 17 years. this isn't my first storm event in tallahassee, but they seem to be more powerful. they seem bigger. i think that is cause for pause to think about the environment, global warming from and what we are doing. >> mayor daley, great to have you with us especially on a very busy day like this. good to speak with you. >> thank you. >> alright. go to our bbc website for the latest developments on the ground. bbc news.com. find the latest developments on our life page. you can see there all of the analysis and reports from the ground from our correspondence as well.

moscow is vowing ukraine will not go unpunished after drone strikes hit targets in russia. ukraine saw its biggest air attacks in months on its capital, kyiv, killing two security guards. most other drones were shot down. russia reported drone attacks in six regions th military cargo planes damaged at an airport in pskov. the local russian government says the military was repelling an attack. all flights have been canceled as local officials investigate. pskov is more than 370 miles, 600 kilometers come away from ukraine from a toast to the border with estonia. kamikaze drones are being used in the war. so far kyiv has focused its counteroffensive in the southeast of ukraine. it is hoping to split the areas you see in red here occupied by moscow to reach the sea. progress has been slow. in the northeast of ukraine russia is pushing forward. our correspondent quentin

sommerville reports from the eastern front line where he spent the last few weeks speaking to rush -- ukrainian soldiers and civilians. >> the battle on ukraine's eastern front reawakened. it's in these fields and trenches that the conflict now burns the hottest, ukraine says. there has been a lot of russian activity in the aa the past couple days. in fact, there were are airstrikes on the village behind me. now we have to move before dawn to get to the trenches. south of here they cast russian forces out of here almost a year ago but their enemy is threatening to return. beyond these fields russia has advanced in recent weeks. the 68th brigade, newly installed, is here to ensure

they go no further. they are up against infantry and artillery attacks daily along these lines. >> you can see here that is outgoing artillery. >> along the front, 100,000 russian troops have gathered in newly formed battle groups, some the on this tree line. -- some beyond this tree line. if you look all around there has been oncoming fire. you can see lots of damage. you see the planning of transpositions to take cover. -- trench physicians to take cover. it's easy to forget with so much focus on the counteroffensive and the south of ukraine that there are vicious battles in the east and north. in the south they are making progress bit by bit. in the east, russia is advancing. this is a war on many fronts.

it is straining russian resources. it is also straining ukraine's. in the south and east of the demands on ukrainian forces are rising. >> this is the frontline frontline. >> andre is taking us forward. a russian drones spotted his vehicle before we took cover. we must ago, he says, get in the car. a dozen shells landed in as many minutes. we first met andre in june when was fighting in the southern counteroffensive. this eastern front is far adlier, he says. >> it you -- it used to be less dangerous for there were far fewer soldiers there than here and they have more weapons here, more of everything. that's why it is more dangerous here.

>> its gains are modest, but russia is resurgent. in this forest, it is especially fierce. >> we are heading deep into the forest. there's been a lot of fighting here. >> this morning, maybe a couple hours ago. >> still burning. all of this road is monitored by drones and systems. >> they compare the artillery barrage as to the first world wars vern don. there is a new threat to contend with. kamikaze drones.

the governor has fallen inside. -- gunnar has fallen inside. he is on heart signals. >> that was a drone attack against us. that was a drone. a roshan -- russian ppd drone. they saw us. they sent a drone. now they are seeking assent hunting us. so we need to go faster. a couple hundred meters from our position. >> the drones work in pairs. a surveillance drone is still above. so they get off the road. >> we have had to stop going forward. the danger here is, the deeper you get into the forest, the cover does not get better. there is constant russian artillery. it is turning these areas into wide-open areas, very exposed.

there is no tree cover here. so, it is hard to come off the road. the drones are up above. you just saw what they can do. the humvees sick armor and the drivers quick thinking means everybody inside was unhurt but of course civilians along the reignited front lines have no such protection. young and old, villagers around this city are being evacuated from their homes. they are now in the range of russian guns. and russia does not discriminate. last year they injured- and dirty six months of occupation here. once more on the eastern front, the advance of russian guns is casting ukrainian families apart.

victor gives his family a final hug before they separate. sophia is just five months old. too precious to remain in harm's way. why are you leaving? >> because it's very scary to live here. i want to safeguard my chiren. it is very scary not knowing if the shelling will hit or not. is we will survive or not. -- if we will survive or not. >> victor hoped he was done with goodbyes. but, as russia advances, he is once again left praying he will see his family again. quentin sommerville bbc news.

two beyond. >> cohl cabral's military named one of its generals as the countries traditional leader after seizing power wednesday. the country's longtime resident ali bongo was put under house arrest with a curfew until further notice. the military takeover of the west african country comes after fungal prop was reelected despite opposition complaints of fraud. the military announced that they are annulling the results of the saturday election and closing the country's borders. gabon is the latest former french colony in africa to experience a coup in recent years following mali, for kina faso, jenny, and niger. president ali bongo appeared on a video calling on allies around the world to make noise on his behalf. the u.n. secretary general antonio guterres condemned the power grab wednesday. the mother of luis rubiales the president of the spanish

football federation has been taken to the hospital on the third day of her hunger strike. she locked herself in a church in southern spain monday to protest accusations against her son after he kissed a spanish football on the lips after the world cup final. the spanish federation called on luis rubiales to resign and fifa suspended him but he has not stepped down. more from madrid. >> luis rubiales the head of th spanish football federation, has been under term it is pressure in recent days to resign because of the kiss he gave a spanish player after the world cup final. he is under even more pressure now. a former referee, javier estrada is alleging that mr. ruby artas -- mr. luis rubiales siphoned money from the football federation that should have been used to pay referees. mr. estrada launched a formal complaint. meantime, mr. luis rubiales is facing an investigation where

prosecutors are looking into whether they can proceed with further action against them for alleged sexual assault for the kiss he gave after the world cup final. meantime, mr. luis rubiales's mother has been taken to the hospital on the third day of a hunger strike she had been staging in defense of her son. who she said had been facing a witchhunt due to all of the pressure surrounding the case. she said her son did nothing wrong. now she has been taken to the hospital. >> let's look at other headlines. the sentencing of the former leader of the far-right extremist groups the proud boys has been delayed. henrique cario was convicted of seditious conspiracy related to the attack of the u.s. capitol january 6, 2021. he and of former -- a former

proud boys chapter leader each are facing more than 25 years in prison related t the attack. sentencing was supposed to take place wednesday by the federal judge overseeing the case fell sick. in antidote for opioid overdoses, narcan, will be available over the counter starting next week. the biotech company emergent biosolutions says the nasal spray will be available on shelves around the u.s. and online for nearly 45 dollars. narcan used to be prescription only. it can revise people that have overdosed on fentanyl and other opioids. more than 100,000 overdosed as in 2021 and 2022. before we go, look outside your window tonight as the biggest and brightest moon of the year will be visible. this was the view from jerusalem earlier. it is called the super bluemoon. not because the moon is actually blue. the name comes from the number of performance in a year. the super part of the name is

because the moon is in the closest point of the robert -- orbit around earth. we will have to wait until 2027 to see one again. one update on idalia as it moves north. the national hurricane center is now classifying l.j. collier as a tropical storm. it says the risk of freshwater flooding, storm surge, and strong wind continues in georgia and the carolinas. head to our website bbc.com for the latest updates. thank you for watching roney's america. narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪

>> good eveni. hurricane sweeps across florida. >>