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it can be very nerve-racking not knowing what to expect, whether you'll like your job or not, whether you'll make friends, whether you'll fit in, and here i feel like it's so welcoming and such an inclusive place to work, you just feel like you're valued. announcer: 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" >> hello. i'm christian fraser. this is the context. >> i urge everybody in the path of hurricane milton to llow all safety instructions over the next 24 hours. it's literally a matter of life and death. >> prepare for catastrophic impact. this will be a serious storm. one that could forever change

communities still recovering from helene. >> we have never had one like this. i have been here 38 years. never being able to find feel, this is the only place with fuel. >> this will be devastating for those in low-lying areas and beachfront communities. for some of them, if they haven't evacuated already, it could be too late. >> right now, hurricane milton is producing tornadoes over parts of south central florida. the outer bands of the storms already had in the gulf coast. florida has braced for what many described as the storm of the century. our correspondents are there. we will speak to one resident that decided to stay. will they ever recover from the wake of hurricane en?

97% of damage assessmentwere downgraded by insurance companies. it could be a disastrous 12 hours for tens of thousands of american families. welcome to the program. there is to driving wind and torrential rain already arrived in florida. there are at least 10 active tornado warnings in the region. we have been tracking an extremely dangerous tornado heading north towards fort myers. right now milton is 150 miles southwest of tampa with sustained wind 145 miles per hour and soon it will push water onto the coast with a storm surge of 15 feet expected in the worst hit areas likely to be somewhere south of tampa bay close to sarasota.

there is barely enough time to get out. major roads and bridges will close in the next few hours and from that point, those who stay will be on their own. this is what it looks like from the international space station. it tells you what a monster it is. our correspondent it's in tampa with the latest. >> to tampa today has the field a ghost town. a city that has been left to the wildlife. the few people that are still out are mainly here because they are taking desperate steps to protect what they can. she kept her shop open so people could get last-minute supplies, but now she's boarding it up. she has written her name on her arm in case something happens to her. >> i write my names here. >> you are that worried? >> it's better for people to know my identity just in case. you never know. this is the worst one.

hopefully everybody is safe. hopefully it's not bad, just electricity and that's . losing power is no big deal. losing life matters. >> this is the tampa entertainment district. normally it is bustling. today it is boarded up. seems to have taken the advice and either got out or hunkered down. at least half the city left. police are focusing on those who have not. >> 200,000 people. but if you are still out there. our officers are going door-to-door to try to convince those people to actually evacuate. some are reluctant. our goal is to save lives. the more people we can evacuate more life's we can save. >> the tampa region has around 3 million people living in it.

many made their way out the last few days. but time is running out. people fill up. nobody is sure when they will come back and to watch. >> and we have never had one night. i have never had one like this and i have been here 38 years. no one has forced us to do this, not being able to find fuel have f

course, the fear is that not f only will we see those storm surges that you mentioned, christian, for some of those low-lying areas that could be extremely dangerous but also heavy precipitation. some estimates say many areas could see up to 18 inches of rain. that of course could create flash flooding. now, where we around and causing more damage. >> a little ominous here. incredibly windy. the sky is dark because the outer bands of the storm, as you have mentioned, have already hit the southwest part of florida. the tornado sightings, they were actually just outside an evacuation center. we aren't getting any closer now. they have been very careful with

the evacuation centers throughout the course of the day to make sure that people who come here have their privacy respected. they don't want filming inside. these are people who are in distress at that have left their home behind. i spoke to a former teacher that was dropping off supplies here, cookies and sweets for the family staying here and hunkering down writing -- writing out the storm. this is something floridians are used to in hurricane season. but this is a storm of the century and people are anxious. >> i will put up on the screen the map tracking towards the coast. you might be able to see it's moving fairly slowly, about nine miles per hour at the moment. it is the bottom right quadrant of the hurricane that's the big concern. it tends to wobble as it comes towards land and obviously ait spins counterclockwise the bottom right side is pushing

water onto the coast and pushing water away on the top right side. when it wobbles, it could move anywhere between 10 to 20 miles as it comes ashore. the residents on the gulf coast, how hard they are his. >> right, christian. officials say at this point don't fit chris -- focus on exactly where it will hit because that the change in the coming hours. we are expecting the storm to hit in about six or seven hours from now. at the moment it looks like sarasota. earlier we heard it was tendering for the south. we will have to wait to see where it hits. if it moves further south the reality is with the strength and force of the storm the entire region of the gulf coast will be hit very hard. that is why we have seen broad preparations across the state. florida governor ron desantis, the press conference he held

earlier. we have been seeing preparations underway here. the massive amount of trucks, food, and supplies that have been gathered. the reality is for those in coastal areas along the western gulf coast this will be an extremely impactful storm. that's why the morning to have continued for people, if they can, to still leave. >> what about the feeling in florida? hurricane ian a few years ago s such a big event for florida. we will talk later in the program about insurance and the relief effort. clearly a lot of people did not get paid out. not to the extent they thought they would. there may be a lot of people in the outside world that think, here is the u.s. a first world country. they will pick up the pieces. that's not the case for thousands of families that will lose out here. >> it is a huge source of frustration. this is two weeks after

hurricane helene tore through florida leavingons of debris that still has to be picked up. for people who are deciding to stay it is, as you said, for some of them, one consideration. their homes are all they have. we spoke to a gentleman earlier that has a mobile home and he decided to evacuate and came to a shelter in miami earlier this morning. i askedim why he thinks people decide to stay. he said, some people believe that because they have been able to ride out previous hurricanes they are use to it here and they are worried that they could lose everything they have. perhaps they are worried about getting that fixed and reimbursed on the road. that's more reason for some people to decide to stay. that said, this storm is different from once we have seen in the past. >> it certainly is. we will keep a close eye on where it comes ashore and the damage it inflicts. thank you. there are hundreds of power

restoration trucks on standby already in florida pre-positioned and it busy getting everything ready for the help that will be required friday. a lot of it will be coordinated by the federal emergency management agency. fema.mer senior official at thank you for being with us. the last few hours before a storm comes ashore what will authorities be doing? >> they have told people evacuate. that's the first and foremost thing. to tell people to evacuate. at this point it is late in the game to do that. right now folks are pre-positioning materials, food, water, power restoration teams. a and rescue teams. because not everybody evacuated and there will be search and there will be search-and-rescue efforts happening. they need to pre-position at teams and a spot where they are safe and they can ride through the storm. when they launched the

activities that will be ready to go. >> six point 5 million people trying to get out or have got out. what you have pressure does that put on the road system and transportation system in florida? >> it does put a lot of pressure on. authorities have reversed a and opened the shoulder so more cars can get through in the direction heading away from the storm. but it's tough. that is why they tell folks three or four days before the hurricane comes ashore to evacuate. you look up. the sky is blue. you think it will be fine. three or four days later the storm hits. they try to encourage people to evacuate early to ease up on the transportation system. >> this is coming on the heels of a storm that affected a large part of the gulf coast. how much of a complicated factor has helene been in the preparations for hurricane milton? >> it is a complication. as your correspondent noted there is still a lot of debris left over from hurricane helene

that can become projectiles in the next storm. i think there will be a lot of damage. local authorities and feral authorities did as much as they could to remove as much debris as possible. the debris left from the previous storm can become projectiles and make things much more dangerous for property and folks as well. >> there has been a lot of rumor and misinformation swirling around the proffered end -- preparation and relief effort from helene. today seema had to put out an entire webpage to deal with some of that. how much of a complicate factor is it? >> for folks on the ground it is noise in the air. if people listen to the local authorities and follow those things, people will be ok. it's unfortunatee have folks taking advantage of a situation and complicating things whatever buddy should be focused on saving lives, saving property, and making sure folks get out of

the zone and not complicate issues with false rumors and allegations. it does not help the situation at all. >> a lot of us focus on the extraordinary wind speed over 140 miles per hour. but the real danger to people in the coastal ars will be the storm surge. >> 1000%. people know hurricane level four, level five. that only describes the wind speed. it has nothing to do with the storm surge, the largest killer in the hurricanes. with helene the tampa area faced 3-4 feet of storm surge. authorities predicted 10-15 feet of storm surge which is, frankly, and survivable. >> that is one or two stories high. >> s. a wall of water -- yes. a wall of water with debris in her left from previous hurricanes, cars, fridges, telephone poles, all sorts of

danger in the water. so it's not just the water, but everything in the water. i worry for those that have not evacuated. >> a quick final one. a one-two punch from the hurricanes. what pressure does this put on fema and the resources it has and is allocated by congress? >> fa has enough money in the disaster relief fund now to cover the immediate needs of both hurricane helene at hurricane milton that is coming. they have the funds to do the immediate needs whether it is emergency supplies, logistics on the ground. the concern is longer-term fund and for longer-term recovery, reimbursing local governments for the funds they are putting out now. that is what congress will need to take a look at and probably pass aitional funding for fema's longer-term needs. but, short term, i think they have the funds to do the job. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> after the break we talk to

somebody that is staying put in her home in the tampa area. we will get to that shortly. around the world and across the u.k. you are watching bbc news. for u.k. viewers, breaking news. the chairman of the indian conglomerate has died at age 86 credited with diversifying the company in the past 20 years. tata is one of the world's biggest groups of companies with a revenue of 160 $5 billion in the past year. under his leadership he acquired british brands like land rover and u.k. steelmaker chorus, which was seen as saving the british steel industry. the chairman called ratan tata

a groundbreaking leader that changed the face of our nation. the chairman of the tata group dead at age 86 and welcome back to world viewers. more than 50 florida counties are under a state of emergency. there are mandatory evacuation jones -- zones in 15 counties. some have refused to evacuate. you heard in gordon's report earlier that the florida attorney general has advised the people that are staying to write their name on permanent -- in permanent marker on one of their arms. there are those that were just outside the evacuation zones that have a choice to make. joining us is sam a mcgraw who lives in riverview 15 minutes from tampa. it's good of you to join us while you still have power. i'm trying to get an impression

of what it is like for you now. what is it like outside your windows? >> honestly just rain and a wind now. it is supposed to pick up in the next couple hours and hit us hard tonight around 2:00 a.m.. >> you have put up storm shutters? what's we bought the house a couple months ago. it is rated for a category five hurricane and has a storm shutters that are up. we have everything inside and tside prepared. we are bunkering down and preparing for the best. >> do you have a ground floor at risk of flooding? >> yes. we live in a single story home. my parents lived across the street and we have their say process on our list if the flooding happens. but we are there won't be flooding. >>hat do you have around you? how will you communicate? what do you do for power? >>'s cell service goes out we have a plan to show up at each other's houses for an emergency. for power, we have a small power

source for a baby that was born a few weeks ago, sterilizing bottles, stuff like that. >> that's quite a challenge if the power goes off. why would you not go to the shelter? i understand it isour minutes from you. plenty of space there. >> yes. the thing for me is i don't want to take that resource away from somebody in an evacuation zone. there are plenty of evacuation zones near us as well as people in mobile homes. they need that more than we do. our officials are telling us to stay p unless we really need to go somewhere. none of us have medical emergencies in this health. for us, we find isafer to stay and we want other people to have the resource. >> did you think about getting on the road? >> we thought about it. gas was extremely scarce around here. we had about 100 miles until empty on our car yesterday and could not find gas.

even if we drove 100 miles in it would probably take a couple hours because of how bad the traffic is. >> how are you feeling? are you anxious? are you confident you will be ok? >> i am anxious for other people. i am confident on our situation here. obviously things to take a turn and that is something that we are making the decision on that is a risk. i feel more anxious for other people because some people don't have the privilege of being as prepared as we are or some people will lose everything they own, especially people downtown or near the coast. i feel anxious for them. it will be horrific for a lot of people. >> to have insurance if things fly off the house? >> absolutely. we are fully insured and have videos of everything inside and outside. >> so you can document what is damaged. >> absolutely. like where this is brand-new we have put our life savings into it. we are not that old. this is our first home i have to cover your bases especially with

>> sit tight.this. we are keeping our fingers crossed for you. >> thank you. we are praying for everybody to stay safe. >> lets speak to the chief of tampa fire rescue barbara trip. good to have you with us. there are some that will set it out. does that concern you? >> it does for the ones that decide to stay. but i can say over all we have had a positive response from residents evacuating in those areas. >> what do you and your team do at this moment? the winds are starting to approach i think 40 miles per hour. when do you say, that's it, we hunker down? >> went to the wind becomes a 40 miles per hour sustained of course we hunker down. th is one of the best messages to get out to the community to make sure they understand that once the storm it starts coming in the wind gets to a dangerous level we wouldn't be able to help them.

we want them to go to shelters to get help. >> how does your rescue effort looked dferent when this has gone through? are you switching -- does the priority become the boats come out on the boats? or are you getting the trucks out? >> just like with hurricane helene fire suppression was an important part as well. we have multiple resources that are staged at a particular area ready to be deployed whatever the storm has bypassed us. >> there are people that watch us on the gulf coast. they might at this point to be thinking we need to get on the road. what would you say to them at point given the risk of flooding along coastal roads? >> they have probably very little time, an hour or two. they needed to get on the road or seek shelter as soon as possible. >> how many people will you be with in the shelter there? is it a full team?

does everybody on the crew come in in and i like this? >> yeah. we have all of our stations at full capacity and we have cooked stations, locations house in about 200 firefighters ready to go. >> i wonder what do you make -- i don't want to drag you into politics -- but we are looking at live pictures of donald trump in pennsylvania. he has been saying the rescue effort is not what it should be. it does it feel like that to you in florida? >> to be honest, it does not. we have received so much assistance and support from federal teams. we have national guardsmen standing by ready to assist in the city of tampa. >> and in terms of the areas you will be covering, what sort of distances can you get to in a situation like this? we just heard from the fema representative that a lot of debris was left by helene.

your operations?the scope of >> one of the positive things in tampa, we have 24 hours of operations to remove a lot of the debris. we have 10%, less than 20% left over. it's a big concern. it doesn't affect our rescue operations. >> what are your biggest concerns as it comes in? you haveut a lot of planning in place. is there anything in the back of your mind worrying you at this stage? >> the biggest concern is water and electric do not mix. with all of the wind i am just concerned about the power outages and of course water search taking place. just for homes and individuals that might not have equipment run by power. this is part of our biggest concern, trying to restore the power and get assistance to people who need it. >> of course. that is a danger to the group --

crews out there as well. thank you for coming on the program barbara tripp the chief officer of tampa fire rescue. she has a big job on her hands in the next couple days. we will take a short break and all the others i focus on our other big story, the middle east. lots is going on. lots to report tonight on developments on that story. stay with us. we will be back. announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... woman: a successful business owner sells his company and restores his father's historic jazz club with his son. a raymond james financial advisor get to know you, your passions, and the way you bring people together. life well plned. brett: you know as someone coming out of college

it can be very nerve-racking not knowing what to expect,