islands.f florida will be next in her sights. they are nervous after watching others endure her wrath. laura bicker, bbc news, puerto rico. on the line is sarah russell from warrington, who is on holiday in turks & caicos islands with her partner and three children. we know turks & caicos islands are nextin we know turks & caicos islands are next in line to feel the full force of hurricane irma, what are the conditions like for you? they are getting pretty bad. trees are starting to uproot. more the skinnier trees are starting to uproot. obviously all the palm trees are beginning to bend. you go outside and all you can hear is wind so outside and all you can hear is wind so the wind is really powerful. it's coming, it is definitely not far off anyway. you were due to fly home today but that's not been possible, can you tell us why? the airport closed yesterday at 6pm, so... they've been tracking the hurricane for eight days, british airways could have sent flights to get us out of here but the

island, which is part of the british virgin islands.assive head injuries and the other with minor head injuries. they were in an isolated pocket of the island where there was no assistance available, so we there was no assistance available, so we went in with a black hawk and we lowered a medic and another specialist to stabilise both patients, bring them back aboard a helicopter and fly them all the way back to a level one trauma centre in sanjuan, back to a level one trauma centre in san juan, porter rico. back to a level one trauma centre in san juan, porter rico. it is amazing you manage to find the person who is at risk with all the devastation caused —— puerto rico. at risk with all the devastation caused -- puerto rico. the storm had initially already passed, however, it was relatively calm. we were at the end of our mission, kind of low on fuel, and we had to go in and extra ct on fuel, and we had to go in and extract both of the patients at that time. what made it really difficult, besides the low fuel, was the other destructio

the virgin islands is made up of both the british virgin islands and the u.s. virgin islands. are st. thomas, saint court, and smaller surrounding. often we are confused with other "slets of the get with "saint like st. maarten. it is important nation really recognize who the americans are in the caribbean and pay us a little bit of extra attention. one of the things that happen for me when i was trying to find coverage about the virgin islands and my home, was that i was single active things on television about the region. i was so pleased as someone who is from the caribbean region to see there was beginning to be some attention to the caribbean enmass. it is true the u.s. has a responsibility to ththe caribben as the most powerful economic force in the region. it is important we can attention to st. maarten and saint martine , which are dutch and french. it is important that we pay attention to the british islands . but lo and behold, we have american citizens in the region as well. these are not just american citizens who are visiting as tourists or american citizens who h

if you ever come to the island, definitely try this out.thing, how about this? probably one of the most relaxing and scenic ways to see tilos is by bike. you might see some wildlife along the way, but right now i'm on my way to check out something that up until now has been a vital link between tilos and the outside world. and this is it. these cables here. they have been connecting tilos to another island called kos around 100km away. traditionally, that is how tilos has been getting its powerfrom kos. from here, the cable travels underwater to kos, and up until now it has been a lifeline for tilos. the underwater cable sounds like a good idea, but the oil—generated power is expensive and the line is vulnerable to breakdown. when that happens, the island and its tourists are left without electricity. but thanks to a locally devised initiative, tilos has now set about generating its own electricity in a sustainable and eco—friendly way. i am about to meet a representative from the company which is installing the renewable energy tech on the

so to have been the four straight on the island -- forestry on the island.t is a difficult situation. my government made the decision today to evacuate on a voluntary basis those people who are on barbuda that wish to come to antigua. the reason for that is, in the wake of hurricane irma is another hurricane, which is due to into the leeward islands on saturday. if that hurricane, which is called jose, remains on the same track as hurricane irma, then it will be going for barbuda again. to avoid those people going through the trouble of that experience once more, we are evacuating them to the island of antigua. hopefully, this is a big hope, hurricane jose will go north and avoid barbuda this time. brent: ambassador, talk to me about what resources your government has to draw upon to help with the recovery and rebuilding. guest: this is a very good question. we have no resources upon which to draw, save our own. and we are a small country, our gdp is about $1 billion a year. so hurricanes of this nature, it could -- it has done vast damage to a lot of the is

cuba is the latest island to be hit.he category four storm — it was category five, the highest, but has eased slightly — made landfall off the north—eastern coast overnight bringing strong winds and heavy rain. communities have lost power and communication is becoming increasingly difficult in more remote areas. the bahamas have largely been spared after the storm changed course. this is irma's trajectory. have been told to evacuate. there's another hurricane approaching the care lean, jose has strengthened to a category four, driving winds of 125mph and forecasters warn that it could strengthen still further. four days after hurricane irma first hit the caribbean, cuba is now feeling the full force of its deadly winds. gusts of more than 150 miles an hour, blasting these desolate streets in the north. the destruction is going to be terrible and the economic situation is very bad. great international assistance is going to be needed. many houses are old and unstable, but so far it is not clear how much damage it has caus

it's like fire filled with the island. we lose the island.at's really terrible. >> this is the reality for the island of tortola and its residents. irma destroyed infrastructure, critical supplies like food, water and fuel are limited. >> the island destroyed. completely. >> reporter: the damage only seems to worsen as we drive down the hillside roads into the island's capitol. crippled communications are sending residents to phone and internet businesses, their only hope of connecting with the outside world picking up a wi-fi signal. here we found one of guzmam's neighbor fighting challenges of her own. she waited hours with her son for medicine at a local hospital. >> i don't know. i can't talk anymore. so devastating. >> reporter: back at the east side community, neighbors seem to be coming together. >> we got to stay here to help the island stand up. we got to rebuild it and make it again. >> reporter: amid the rubble, there are signs of resilience and rebuilding. though these islanders have a long way to go, they are on the path toward r

how is the island of st. john, the island of st.-- i mean, where are you in this relief effort? >> the supplies and the support from our federal partners have been awesome. i've been on st. john three times. i was there today. our fema partners have been air lifting a lot of water, food. we've done medical evacuations from the hospitals that was severely damaged. we provided hemodialysis for that segment of the community. we have teams in boats. so i would say it's going very very well. the marines landed today. they are going to be targeting debris removal on both of the islands. we've begun the reconstruction of the electrical distribution. had a good call with governor cuomo of new york. he pledged an additional 100 troops to beef up security so our folks can -- >> do you know when they will be arriving? >> no. we're setting that up with fema and they're putting that together to let us know. the good thing is that about 70%, 80% of the officers in st. thomas, st. john, lost their homes as well. and we have officers on duty. we we

people are desperate on some of the islands in the caribbean. we good to the island of guadalupe. clarissa, what have you been seeing? >> reporter: alyson, this is really the staging ground for rescue and aid, specifically the island of st. martins. many who we have spoken to have down right fright epping stories, alyson. in addition to the horrors they witnessed of surviving the storm, not having power, not having water, rationing food, there is a pretty desperate security situation. several people described gang of young guys marauding around town, looters, burglaries. they said all the stores have been smashed apart. all the food, all the things from the drugstore, for example, have been taken. so that has compounded a different situation. they are french territory. mack reason spent the night trying to show support saying we are going to rebuild this place. make no mistake, this is going to be a hugely complicated effort. 200,000 people across the caribbean in need of aid. 91% of the buildings on st. maarten alone wiped out. it is a desperate situation. it will take a lot of c

east side of the island.ow, i spoke to the deputy governor, he said he'd get things back under control but there is an appeal for calm and law and order to prevail. very difficult conditions for people to really deal with the aftermath of hurricane irma because they're all so worried about hurricanejose, which is on its way. the latest forecasts say that is skirting the island and heading north rather than being a direct impact, so that may bring some relief as they try to continue the recovery efforts. in the united states, southern parts of florida are already beginning to feel the effects of irma. governor rick scott said the southeast was already experiencing tropical storm force winds and that thousands of people were without electricity. the bbc‘s aleem maqbool is in miami and sent this report. we got up and saw on the tv all the traffic backed up, they say it's backed up to atlanta. we said, we have waited too late to leave. so we stayed. i mean, we left everything, you know. our furniture. our apartme

it's one of the smallest islands but one of the hardest hit islands of the u.s. virgin islands. and we left from here from puerto rico, and we basically got on a boat, private enterprise boat from a gentleman who spent $20,000 of his own money hiring these boats and then filling them up by locals who were offering anything they can, anything from clothes to water to food, and we traveled about two hours by boat. and we did this twice a day to st. john. and the minute you see the island, for those of you who have traveled to the island, who have been there, who have had pina coladas, who swam on those beautiful lightweigwhite beache would recognize and know how lush and green that is. that has changed completely. it is gone. your eye can't quite get it right. it looks like it's burnt from a distance. but close up you can see that it's just there are no leaves. >> because the winds just stripped everything. >> absolutely. and it looks completely naked, you know. and that's what grabs you first of all. then once you're on the land, when you're on the ground, you see how difficult i

at first sight the faroe islands make your heart skip a beat. secluded in the north atlantic ocean it's striking mountains a cloaked in fog there's not a tree or a person inside hard to imagine for someone from the philippines and they're looking so although there's no house. push the hostesses firs is thinking. many have never heard about this tiny country at the door of the arctic circle especially in tropical thailand when i told my friend that i going to be in fair island they say why you go to eat it they're. all home to only fifty thousand people and eighty thousand sheep. it's also cold and wet. and they're straining a lot. and in darkness for more than half of the year. went. it feels very cool blooming. everything it's like. because we come from one country and big country and then here is so small. but stay a while and something happens in a place that seems like it's on the edge of the earth women from afar of finding something they yearn for. i've come to find out what it is it's. hundreds of women from asia moving to the faroe islan

there's no power on the island.s company are doing their best have basic communication. people are trying to clear the roads here so we can get access to basic provisions. the navy did arrive today. there have been helicopters in the airdropping today. there have been helicopters in the air dropping supplies to the hospital. alice, i know you had to live through this, you're probably still living through it, but can you ta ke still living through it, but can you take us through it? you're hunkered down in your house, presumably you're not seeing much because you're not seeing much because you're either behind shutters or the windows are boarded up. what are you hearing and what are you feeling as a storm like this gets? at 2am the eye of the storm hit us. we thought that was quite a powerful force but it kept churning and churning and churning and getting stronger and stronger. the noise wasjust phenomenal. you could hear your house being ripped apart. you could hear the waves beating against the side of the house.

john's another big island from it u.s. virgin islands.ntry music star kenny chezny has been a resident there for years. he loves st. john. he wasn't there when it was hit. but 17 of his friends were riding out the storm in his house. they survived, and with kenny's help they were able to get off the island. he's determined to try and get as much attention to st. thomas, to st. john and the needs of the island. one of the people who road out the storm in his house, i spoke to. kenny, you love st. john, you've been there for a long time. when you see the images of what's happened there, what goes through your mind? >> it's a lot of heart break, anderson. it's really just so many emotions running through my head and through my heart. it's hard to put into words really because i've got so many memories there, so many friends there, so many fabrics and pieces of my life on that island. and it's -- to see that devastation and to see what it is today when i was just there last week, it's really, really heart breaking because i know what all my f

virgin islands. the hurricane side swiped the island. knocking over trees, toppling power lines and causing severe flooding. officials in st. croix warned people to stay awake most of the night and keep their shoes on in case they needed to run. forecasters say hurricane force winds extend 60 miles from the eye of maria. they say the center of the storm is expected to cross over the coast of the dominican republic tonight before moving to the turks and caicos and the bahamas. i want to get straight to steve harrigan who is live in san juan for us this afternoon. steve, looks like things have calmed down. what does it look like now? >> shepard, the wind has calmed considerably, under 50 miles per hour that means the police and first responders can go out. everywhere you look here, it's a wet miss and it's not getting better soon. where i'm standing now, chunks of buildings, satellite dishes, balconies, pieces of wall, holes in buildings. that was 145 miles per hour winds earlier this morning. we just moved around to a neighborhood. if you

eventually new forms of life arose here adapted to the island's unique conditions. archaic forms reminiscent of the beginning of time have survived to this day. in the galapagos would they be one of the last remnants of paradise a true garden of eden. yes. wow. when an eight hundred thirty five the english theologian and scientist charles darwin came to the galapagos he hoped to find a new garden of eden he was trying to prove the literal truth of the story of the creation as told in the bible and he imagined that these remote pacific islands would turn out to be a center of creation but the species were preserved as god had created them. instead darwin discovered something even more miraculous this isolated world of plants and animals showed him that all life is constantly changing that all living things are continually evolving and adapting to their environment. darwin's theory of natural selection was published in eight hundred fifty nine in his book the origin of species it was to change radically and forever our whole understanding of humanity and its place in

projected to go a little bit south or directly to my island because the islands in the virgin islands so my island which is st corey on luckily sink rate enough to sustain a lot of damage from hurricane irma and we're very grateful for that and st thomas and st john are ready severely damaged just like the other northern leeward islands and you know obviously they're going to get the facts of this still so the government is very very much so rushing to get any kind of you know to get shelters up to get sandbags out to do any kind of last minute preparations on i think the government has been very good with how they are working to prepare the general public are congresswoman which is our only federal representative in congress she is doing she's working you know nonstop with her off this to to get people connected to their families that you know there's still people who are not able to contact family members and friends in st thomas in st john because there are issues with you know a lack of service people can't get why people are saying corey where a little better off so if you know e

the spanish always try to take over the island.e says there's a danger of providencia losing its identity to the neighbouring mainland. colombia is a country with a lot of different culture. everywhere you go is different. different climate, different food, different music, different people. but providencia's isolation from the mainland has also hit its economy. food and drink are, for example, much more expensive than on the mainland. and so colombia has committed to extending providencia's airport so it can take international flights. many of the locals are up in arms. it's not going to happen. we're not going to permit it. sophia huffington is leading protests against the expansion. she fears what happened in san andres sets the precedent. they opened the airport there in 1953 and started pulling away the territory from the people. we have an example for them not to come and make the same mistake again. 60 years after san andres got its international airports, there are now high—rise hotels, casinos and a0 times more tourists th

it was not as bad as some of the other islands but it did cause some damage, the island lost powerforcourse, flights in and out were cancelled. there was some damage, and people still trying to recover from that initial phase. the shelters you have, can they cope with the numbers of people? it will be difficult to assess what the damage has been so far, how many people have responded. it will be a case of going out, we when we have been advised that the conditions will prevail for much longer than anticipated, before we can go out and see what is happening. we are beginning to lose the line, thank you very much for joining us. stay safe, and all of the other people there as well, please, stay safe. as maria follows in the footsteps of hurricane irma, one family from the british virgin islands knows exactly what it feels like to be caught in the eye of the storm. the ormods were forced to return to their parent's home in somerset, after losing virtually everything in irma. but they hope to return to the caribbean to help rebuild, both their home in tortola and the rest of the island. c

i left the island for work. dj and i was travelling to europe for a week to doa travelling to europe for a week to do a few gigs. we were in new york and andrew decided to take the kids back to the bbi and that was probably a week before we had any news that a hurricane was on the way. how old are your children? they are ten months old and 23 months old. when did you last contact them? it's about three days ago now. i last heard from them probably half an hour before it was going to hit ina very an hour before it was going to hit in a very bad way. what advice had the island had before the hurricane struck? nothing. i mean we were told, you know, a storm is coming. it isa told, you know, a storm is coming. it is a pretty big hurricane, but it was so it is a pretty big hurricane, but it was so blase. people are used to it there and there is such a thing as having hurricane parties and people we re having hurricane parties and people were just obviously, we were warned to prepare for this, but nobody was told to e

east side of the island.i spoke to the deputy governor. he says he'd get things back under control, but there is an appeal for calm and law and order to prevail. very difficult conditions for people to really deal with the aftermath of hurricane irma, because they're all so worried about hurricanejose, which is on its way. the latest forecasts show that skirting the island and heading north, rather than being a direct impact. so that may bring some relief as they try to continue the recovery efforts. in the united states, southern parts of florida are already beginning to feel the effects of irma. governor rick scott said the south—east is experiencing tropical—storm—force winds, and that thousands of people were without electricity. the bbc‘s aleem maqbool is in miami. there is little left for people to do in florida but to get somewhere safe and wait. this hurricane shelter, like so many more across the city, is packed to capacity. wejust decided, you know, we're going to leave, and then we got up and saw o

the us islands taking a direct hit. damaging wind over the british virgin islands. piling into puerto rico, pitting some thailand, meaning we could see some catastrophic flooding and mudslides before the storm weakens before going to the turks and take silence. the storm still has some way to go —— the turks and kite silence. myanmar‘s leader, aung san suu kyi, has insisted her government has made every effort to bring peace to rakhine state — where hundreds of thousands of rohingya muslims have been driven from their homes. she's been under international pressure to stop the military crackdown which began in response to attacks by rohingya militant groups. in geneva, the head of the un fact finding mission on myanmar says his team has received widespread allegations of mass killings — which they intend to investigate. jonny dymond reports. the exodus of the rohingya continues. a treacherous escape from burnt out villages and savage assaults. more than 400,000 have fled myanmar in under a month. its leader, aung san suu kyi, pushed back at the swell of international

virgin islands and whatever help is being gimpb giv given to the u.s. virgin islands. we are grateful for them playing that role soer fa. and now it will be our turn to be the recipients of the help that we know is coming from the states. i know that in new york and the bronx, they are leading efforts to bring things to puerto rico. people in florida, senator marco rubio has been looking after puerto rico's interests during this storm and all that. so we know people are helping in the states and getting ready to just pounce on puerto rico as soon as it is safe to travel back here again. >> thank you so much for talking to us. we are thinking of you. >>> we have breaking news on the natural disaster that took place yesterday. we'll go live to mexico city for more on the frantic search for survivors from that earthquake. at this point, the death toll is up to 225. and the search and rescue efforts continue. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ "zorba the greek" by mikis theodorakis ♪ ♪ the all-new volkswagen tiguan with available pedestrian monitoring. the new king of the concrete jungle. it's m

b tropical islands now in ruins, we're with the coast guard on tropical islands now in ruins, we're with coast guard on caribbean rescue mission. this this is my body of proof. proof of less joint pain and clearer skin. this is my body of proof that i can take on psoriatic arthritis with humira. humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to both joint and skin symptoms. it's proven to help relieve pain, stop further joint damage, and clehumira is the #1 prescribed biologic for psoriatic arthritis. humirato fight infections, inulosis.infecers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and neng heartstem problems, serious allefailure.ctions before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. donwant more proof? ask your eumatolo what's your body of proof? not for me, for you. aveeno® positively radiant 60 second in-shower facial. works glowing skin in just o

islands hi jeffrey what is the state of things in st maarten right now how are island residents preparing for maria. you know we are doing all the things that we did just two weeks ago to prepare for months the thing that is just different this time around is there is debris everywhere so the last twenty four to thirty six hours is all about trying to clean up the debris that could become something that just takes off in in that wind of maria that's really been the focus for the last twenty four thirty six hours as we repair from maria it looks like maria is going to stay just enough to our south that we're going to get a fair amount of rain and be subject to some tropical storm force winds which is nothing compared to what we went through with irma and you know my heart goes out to everyone on dominique because i completely understand what what they're going through as they. look outside for the very first time as as light comes up and it is just devastating everywhere when i look around st martin you know there's not a single building that is not somehow touched by armor that has passed

caribbean islands.experience says very catastrophic, that sounds bad, how is it going to be on the ground? right now we are expecting wins in excess right now we are expecting wins in excess of 185 mph —— wins. that is againa excess of 185 mph —— wins. that is again a category five storm, extremely strong for this area and we haven't had a storm in the atla ntic we haven't had a storm in the atlantic since wilma in 2005. so it's been quite a time since that storm has happened. we have some... we have had some indication that this is going to be a very catastrophic storm, especially with the storm surge. we expect the storm surge to be in the vicinity of ten metres... wave height of ten metres and storm surge of five metres. you are looking at something that's going to be very dangerous when you have high winds, rainfall and wave heights. quite a few of the islands in its path are pretty flat, abe? we are being told, kathy—ann, that right behind irma is tropical storm jose in the atlantic and expected to

we want you to see some drone footage of the island. this is a barrier island over tampa.e you no idea, wolf, just how much we have been seeing here. there's water, there's a little bit of stuff, but overall i spoke to some homeowners and they said they were expecting once they were allowed back on the island, not to even have a home. they thought everything was going to be gone. they figured that this was going to be, as it is called, a barrier for the tampa area. when they got back, they wouldn't have homes. for the most part, a little shingles maybe, some roof is gone. we're basically just seeing trees, like this one. while it is impressive and large, again, the people who live here, while they still do not have power and are not sure when they're going to get it, thought they would return home to far worse than they did. >> thank you. dianne gallagher on the road for us. much more on the breaking news coverage right after this. , wh? i was having a good round, and then my friend, sheila, right as i was stepping into the tee box mentioned a tip a pro gave her. no. yep.

virgin islands are part of a big chunk of islands called the virgin islands group. some belong to the u.k. british virgin islands. but the ones that belong to us are these three big guys, st. croix, st. john, and st. thomas, plus another 50 small ones, most of which are too tiny to show up on a map. altogether if you amassed all the land mass of the u.s. virgin islands you'd get a land area twice the size of washington, d.c. u.s. virgin islands are known primarily for being absolutely gorgeous. they're known for their white pris scene beaches, their old world castles and architecture, their incredible culture and incredible art and museums, incredible food. a really rich storied culture. and right now the u.s. virgin islands are really, really hurting. two of those three big islands, st. john and st. thomas, just got completely walloped by this murk. hurricane. st. thomas has one hospital and that hospital has been destroyed. one resident in st. thomas told npr today that the hospital suffered a catastrophic failure during the storm. patients from that hospital in s

these are very low—lying islands. therefore, you know, a surge means more water coming here which means more flooding, which causes more problems in terms of utilities and the functioning of the islands. those are the most low—lying areas, the ones who also have vulnerable structures, and we have vulnerable structures, and we have been encouraging them to move into the structures which can take ca re of into the structures which can take care of them. as i say, they are moving into the shelters now. along with the surge you mentioned, it is the wind speed, we are waiting to see what the impact of that is, and i'm afraid we will not really know this until of course it has hit us, but already we can see it is very windy here. the sea is very choppy. we are already within her frame, irma, she is already touching us. so we have the hurricanes developing more or less in the same place, and it is not uncommon at this time of year, but rare to see them so powerful. our science editor david shukman explains. how do hurricanes

hit that same island. moments ago, i spoke with the prime minister, now an urgent effort under way to get everyone out. prime minister, thank you for joining us, and the pictures coming in are just devastating. i know you have had a chance to fly over the island and to visit it in person. describe what you saw for us. >> well, for me, i never contemplated this. the landscapers just decimated. 90% or more of the buildings were damaged. it literally destroyed a country. >> mr. prime minister, i know you described it as though a bomb went off on that island, and we are all watching the track now of hurricane jose, which could get to that island as well. just incredible that you could be facing two hundrrricanes now. you're trying to get everybody off the island? >> well, we are. we're active, and actions have taken place. we will have the island completely evacuated. >> mr. prime minister, thank you for your time. i know you're very busy, and please make sure the people of your island know they are in our tho

the eye wall coming across marco island and surely in marco island, florida they will be ine eye of theicane irma. it's 3:00 o'clock in southwest florida i'm shepard smith, fox news continuing coverage of hurricane irma. the storm is moving now at 12 miles an hour in a northward direction. minimum pressure 936, so decreasing in strength if ever so slightly and the maximum sustained winds 120 miles an hour which makes this a powerful category 3 storm and major hurricane that's now bearing down on marco island, everglades city, naples and generally collier county before heading north to the state of florida, janice

i'm off this island. i have been here like 20 years, i'm going to have to leave the island. i don't have any other choice. >> reporter: i heard that from more than one person, america will see puerto rico as too much of a liability, with all the debt before the rebuilding debt the now the most valuable thing they have is their american passport to get out. others have a puerto rican resolve to stay and rebuild. but the mayor, that young mary car mayor, ricardo walked six hours and found out he was turned away. we have a few days before the society breaks down, good news from the governor, 185 gas stations were opened. today it's up to 450. the big problem is distribution, they can't get guys to drive the trucks because they can't get to work or they don't want to go out without security. they can't find enough cops or soldiers to ride shotgun into the rural villages. wolf, today hammers at home more than any day before. as long as we have been here, this place is in desperate need in as much help as they can get. >> you are saying six, seven months to really get puerto rico

what it does is it puts an island -- of the island in the position where they do not have the financial resources to meet the cost share environment flowing into the violent or what the president did was acknowledge that, publicly and privately. he realized that would be a problem. doing a 100%tep of federal cost share adjustment to pay for all of this. power restoration, the army corps of engineers, and all the emergency protective measure, police, fire, ems, truck drivers, all of those things. 180 days. powersix months for the virgin islands and puerto rico until we can get our hands around this. all of those functions, those missions, r 100% federal cost share. we do not want anyone worried about paper. we want them worried about people. two more questions. reporter: i wanted to follow up and ask as you are starting to envisioned on the road, if any sort of bailout might be part of the broad recovery package, and on that [indiscernible] >> as my colleague alluded to, we are willing to negotiate with congresses there is a better fiscal idea. from the emergency management perspective,

it is an island 1100 miles from florida. once he is satisfied, i would expect that three-star general to go back into his appropriate command structure. for now, they will be in charge of ground forces, and they will try to address this significant problem and need. i would like to make that my last question. reporter: was it a mistake -- would you acknowledge it was a mistake looking back to not have this three-star general on the ground earlier? mr. bossart: not at all. that did not affect how we structured the response. this was textbook and it was done well. the unusual step was to put the three star general on the ground. peter, i will have that my last question. i will end by saying hello -- saying, please say an extra special prayer for the people in puerto rico tonight. the u.s. virgin islands are not getting a lot of coverage, but say a prayer for them as well. also for the federal workers, the volunteer workers, the business and women who are helping those in need. this is something that will require weeks and mont

>> well, again, it depends island to island. but for this island, providencial, it's between now, 7:00, and 2:30 in the morning our time. >> and have people evacuated, or are there shelters for people to go to? >> there are. we put out evacuation orders on two islands on tuesday and wednesday. where there is a smaller population. and others in low-lying areas, where there's a high risk of inundation, they've been encouraged to go to family or friends to higher up on the island or go to the shelters which are open and now getting pretty full. >> do you have any sense of how many people are in government supplied shelters? >> i don't know the exact number, i'm afraid, off the top of my head. but for example, in grand turk, where there are two shelters operating, the figure must be of the order of 300. >> national shutdown i understand was declared today in the turks and caicos, freezing emergency services until the storm has passed. that's obviously a common move in many places, because it can be just too dangerous for emergency p