st. martin.herlands, the european part of the kingdom of the netherlands. and in the european part we have had our share of disasters but a different share. we have had the share of the disasters of flooding in the netherlands, so we cope, we can cope with floods. a hurricane of this magnitude was something totally new to us in the netherlands. it's not new to our friends in the caribbean. actually, it's quite rare in curacao and aruba and unfortunately st. martin like antigua has experienced something similar before. if i tell you a little bit of what happened in st. martin, yes, we had the wrath of the hurricane come over st. martin. to give you some figures, four people died on st. martin. one of them of natural causes and three deaths directly related to the hurricane. isle speak on the dutch part of st. martin and not on the french part, the 40,000 people. more than 40 people injured, of which 11 seriously injured. i think of all the structures to, the houtzs in st. martin, 90% is damaged an

st. martin and -- st. ch were too had heavily devastated. 95% antiguan but i don't want to make that speech because as you say, mr. ambassador, we can't have this meeting every year. we can't continue to have this meeting every year. kikkan expose a lot of billions of dollars and the victims are always the same. the population. and we have to think what we can do to -- to fight this situation and i think the first we can do is to continue to work against climate change, against the global warmings of the oceans because if this hurricane has been stronger it's because the sea is so warm, you can see the scientific works everywhere in the world, the corporation of scientists, the meteorologists all said the sea has been never warm like today. so the first we have to do that. the second, i think, we have to work all together closely to prevent. we have architect. i don't know what. some other scientist to build some infrastructure that can resist for the next hurricane. this is cost a lot of money. and we have

st. martin. so the way our assistance, the united states assistance is triggered, it's triggered by a request from the effected country. so we have received to date four disaster declarations which are issued that initiates our assistance. we received disaster declarations from the bahamas, from antiqua and barbuda, from holland and from france. and i've worked as us aid for 19 years and i think this is the first time i recall receiving disaster declarations from the netherlands and from france. but wherever we receive a disaster declaration, i feel personally that it's actually an honor to receive a request for help and for our teams to go there is -- that's what we're trained to do and we enjoy doing that, so this is -- this is what -- this is what we do. so when we -- when we go into a country, we recognize that the lead for that disaster response is the local government and so our job as americans is not to take over but is to support that local government. so when our disaster assistance res

st. martin. it was her dream birthday vacation.t is left will live in her nightmares. >> it looked like hell. it looked like a war zone. it went from the most beautiful resort ever to chaos. to total destruction. >> reporter: the once idyllic islands of the northern caribbean took the brunt of hurricane irma. now waste lands of destruction and debris. the category 5 storm killed at least 37 people from barbuda. >> this is one of the worst days of my life. the entire country has been decimated. >> reporter: to st. martin, to the virgin islands. now there are severe shortages of food, water, and medicine. and adding to the chaos, a second hurricane, jose, churning over the same area this weekend. costing authorities precious time, preventing them from getting to the most ravaged areas. now the harrowing stories of survival are emerging. >> flooding is kind of amazing. the rain and wind is bringing it through the sliding doors. >> reporter: along with tales of the frightening aftermatds as the rule of law began to break down. >> it is

st. martin are evacuated by c-130s. >> what did it sound like? ke you are in an airplane engine. >> reporter: an estimated 5,000 americans were believed to be trapped on st. aftera aft aftermath of irma. michelle and charlie pratt were on the dutch side of the island also at simpson bay. >> what was it like? >> frightening. we thought we were going to perish together. >> it blew our doors and windows in. >> it blew the doors in and the walls were shaking. >> reporter: they took these videos of the devastation outside. soon, people began arriving from other hotels. and quickly, things went from bad to worse. >> our generator caught on fire. after they put the fire out, the people stole the generator. then they started stealing food from our fridge. then they beat up one tourist. hit him in the eye. >> the military came in and yelled for us all to get in. there were bank robbers and they ran into our section with their cars. the military were after them with the machine guns. >> reporter: the pratts and other guests say theyed to go word of evacuati

st. martin numerous times as a child and a teenager. and i had seen the pictures of st. martin before coming here with cnn. i did not expect it to be like this. this reminds me, i have covered my fair share of earthquakes, hurricanes. this reminds me of the earthquake in haiti which had leveled everything. i don't see this airport reopening. all the staff i spoke to at the airport, which is the international side, that everybody uses, won't be reopening for months. commercial flights. and that's number one. number two is, of course, what's the situation for the people here. well, we just learned from the governor of st. martin on the dutch side that 85% of structures and buildings are uninhabitable. partly or totally destroyed. so that number alone puts the scale on the destruction here. there is little to no power. people are still eating the food that they stocked up on before the hurricane. and the water on the dutch side, they depend on the dutch military to give them water. the first signal that i'm getting is that people are thirsty and people are hungry. not starvi

st. martin is not st. martin's problem alone, it's up to the neither lands and france to send money and aid and supplies and get st. martin back on its feet. the united states has the same responsibility for the u.s. virgin islands. the u.s. bought the virgin islands. the united states bought the virgin islands from denmark in 1917. we made $25 million for the virgin islands. talk about a bargain. the u.s. virgin islands are part of a chunk of the islands called the virgin islands group. s some belong to the u.k. we have st. croix, st. john, and st. thomas and 50 small ones, most of which are too tiny to show up on a map. all together, if you e mask the land, you get land area twice the size of washington d.c. they are known for being absolutely gorgeous. known for white pristine beaches, old world castles and architecture. their incredible culture and incredible art and museums and incredible food, really rich storied culture and right now, the u.s. virgin islands are really, really hurting. two of those t

st. martin?well, wolf, first of all, it's my team's -- my special tactics teams down there right now. i'm back here in louisville, kentucky, helping coordinate the efforts going on down there. from the reports i received from my team, they went directly into the airport sunday and it was basically american citizened dispersed throughout the airport and surrounding areas around the island. our job was to go down there as a special tactics team and start coordinating relief efforts to get those people out of st. martin and back to puerto rico. >> what's the status of the search and rescue operations? >> as far as the search and rescue operations, our personnel were mainly on the airfield coordinating the relief efforts to get personnel, 1,000 american citizens that were stranded on the island after the actual hurricane passed through, so our personnel went there, established the airport and worked with the dutch military and started bringing in air lift to get personnel out thereof. they evacuated

st. martin.impson bay resort was to be her dream birthday vacation. >> it went from the most beautiful resort ever to chaos to total destruction. >> reporter: the category 5 storm killed at least 37 people from barbuda -- >> this has been one of the worst days of my life, the entire country has been decimated. >> reporter: to st. martin to the virgin islands. now there are severe shortages of food, water and medicine. on sunday we left with the coast guard on a cutter as they rushed to st. thomas in the u.s. virgin islands to bring in needed supplies and to evacuate stranded americans to puerto rico. >> we'll have water, we'll have dry food, some clothes for kids in need and we also are dropping off federal agents to help with law enforcement and try to re-open the airport and the ports in st. defense says 4600 service members are helping with relief efforts in the virgin islands and puerto rico. while the lucky ones from another devastated island, st. martin, are evacuated by c-130s. what did it

st. martin is not st. martin's problem alone, it's up to the netherlands and france to send money and aid and supplies and get st. martin back on its feet. the united states has the same responsibility for the u.s. virgin islands. the u.s. bought the virgin yiernlgsds about 40 miles off puerto rico. the united states bought the virgin islands from denmark in 1917. we made $25 million for the virgin islands. talk about a bargain. the u.s. 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 ar

st. martin. and i say this because st. martin has a future, one that needs to be reconstructed.day, we should think about reconstruction in the short, medium and long-term. >>> the storm left many of the caribbean islands unrecognizable. some in the virgin islands lost everything and are stranded. paula sandoval reveals there's glimmers of hope on the island of tortola. >> reporter: when you think you've seen some of the worst damage by irma, you come here. and you can see the devastation is widespread here on tortola. you can see what's left of one of the marinas here. this is certainly one of the hardest-hit regions. people here had been struggling to find food, to find water. however, supplies are slowly making their way here. and neighboring caribbean islands have been hard hit. many of the residents that call those places home have had to evacuate to puerto rico, united states. many people who live here are trying to make it back to the u.k. we've heard some remarkable stories of survival. people who have essentially had to huddle inside their homes to ride out the storm. a

st. martin. what happened?l us about it. >> to the best of my knowledge, they were guests at a hotel that buildings, structures, doors collapsed onto them. i've spoken to some of the victims we helped, and they were hiding under mattresses with glass exploding all around them, deafening winds, things of that nature that really again, we didn't put two and two together until we saw their faces telling the stories. the details, it was really jarring. >> i want you to standby, captain, because i want to bring in now those three women. good evening to you. how are you guys, doing? virginia, you first. virginia, can you get closer to the? we can't hear you. >> sure. can you hear me now? >> okay, so listen, virginia, we can't hear you. so we're going to take a break and get it fixed. standby, everyone. don't go anywhere. - i love you. - love you too, dad. ♪ i will love you ♪ in the morning ♪ when the dew is ♪ on the ground ♪ will love you... man: hey, good luck! dad, dad, your tie! ♪ when the sun is ♪ rising ♪ ♪ hung

now the two hardest hit islands st martin and st barts needs to be completely rebuilt. and st martin ninety percent of buildings have been destroyed or significantly damaged so who's going to foot the bill. insurance companies reimburse cars houses and buildings with comprehensive coverage. who will look weak on a is one of the lucky ones have comprehensive insurance he owns a boat rental business in saint martin? simple songs soon we've lost at least fifty percent of all boats which announces a tens of millions of dollars. noone appellant it'll. but owners of buildings or cars that are not covered under comprehensive insurance policy will not be compensated. this is particularly problematic in saint martin for experts estimate that fifty percent of homeowners do not have insurance. yes and it's true that many people on these islands are not insured and of course that's when the government steps in a multi don't goodwill. each to cover the costs of the french government will dip into funds that are put aside for natural disasters in the overseas territories. these funds

st. martin's.y the united states assistance is triggered is by a request from the affected country so we have received to date for disaster declarations, which are issued that we receive disaster declarations from the bahamas, from antigua and holland and france. i worked at usaid for 19 years and i think this is the first time that i recall seeing disaster declarations from the netherlands and from france. but whenever we receive a disaster declaration, i feel personally that it's actually an honor to receive a request for help and for our teams to go there that is what we are trained to do and we enjoy doing that, so this is what we do. when we go into a country, we recognize that the need for the disaster response is the local government and so our job is not to takeover bid is to support thathe local government. so, when our disaster assistance response team's arrive in the bahamas, we are coordinating with the bahamas government first and foremost. we also coordinate with regional entities. th

st. martin airport on the dutch side.y to me, the scenes were reminisce sent of the haiti earthquake a few years ago. you may remember the scene, which is a number of the building just down. the only thing that's clear is the tarmac. so you have military planes operating, dutch marines, french military as well. they're going in and out. that's the air bridge that is so key to this island. an hour later, the sunset and all of a sudden i was speaking to erin burnett on the phone. i couldn't see a meter or two in front of me because there was no light. we were in total darkness because there's no power as is to be expected in a situation like this one. we managed to get here. i know this shot is choppy and rough, but bear with us. that thing is what concerns me, it's what concerns most people, the red can there. it's sitting on top of a generator. that's ours. people who are more fortunate here have their own generators powering their homes and everything they need to do. but that runs on gas, and the gas right now is ration

st. martin in the aftermath of irma. since friday, the u.s. state department has airlifted 1900 americans, with even more flights today. what was it like living through irma? >> frightening. we thought we were going to perish together. >> reporter: they took these videos of the devastation from outside. soon people began arriving from other hotels, and quickly, things went from bad to worse. >> a generator caught on fire, then after they put the fire out, the people stole the generator. then they started stealing food from our fridge. and then they beat up one tourist. hit a lady in the eye. >> reporter: the other guests tell us they eventually got word of evacuations. waiting in line for hours to finally make it on a military plane. 200 others had been evacuated by cruise ship. further along irma's track, 10 people died in hard-hit cuba, where some neighborhoods today were still under water and without power. france's president, emmanuel macron is expected to travel to st. martin to survey the damage and offer relief. to the french-dutch isla

st. martin and st.tholomew, um, residents have been ordered not to leave their homes under any circumstances. president trump has declared emergencies in florida, puerto rico and the u.s. virgin islands. let's head to neda tracking irma in the weather center. >> irma just made landfall across st. martin, the island there, and the eye of the storm, you can see how massive it is as it passes through the leeward islands heading towards puerto rico. expected to reach there tonight and the dominican republic by tomorrow. i want to show you another storm there. tropical storm jose expected to be a hurricane by tonight. so back to back irma, then jose, and then take a look, here's katia. this one right off the coast of mexico. this one right now has been upgraded from a tropical depression tow a tropical storm. a lot of activity in the atlantic. look at the eye of irma just passing across st. martin and the storm surge as it is expected to reach the u.s. virgin islands, 15 to 20 feet. so this could go over the

st. martin.ood morning to you. what is the devastation there? >> reporter: look, what strikes me is we're more than a week into this, a week of aftermath of hurricane. frankly, if you had told me when we landed here that we landed the day after the hurricane, i would have believed you. that's the level of destruction i'm seeing. i'm not seeing a week's worth of reconstruction, sweeping up and getting the aid needed. i think the reason for that, it's not to blame necessarily the authority, but i think the reason for that is just the sheer scale of the challenge of getting the aid to the people. of the first order of business has to be getting clean drinking water to people because they're going on their reserves, whatever they had before the storm, and a little water that the public water company here in stnt martin has been able to get to the neighborhood. very slow, very incremental. when those reserves are depleted, there's no plan b for those people. it's pretty much the same thing as far as f

st. martin on the dutch side, there's been a 24-hour curfew. 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., people can go out tomorrow. a couple supermarkets i've just been told still have some food. so hopefully, fingers crossed here, people might be able to start getting food tomorrow. anderson, what surprises me most is that everything i have described sounds to me from having covered previous natural disasters like day two, day three after the disaster, but we are day six. they were hit on wednesday. today is tuesday night. we are a week in. they have the help, the services, and the finances of some top tier companies. the netherlands for the dutch side and france for the french side, and yet, this is where we find ourselves a week in. i'll say one last thing. we understood why that was. this is an island. i know i'm saying something obvious, but that means everything they need to rebuild and they need a lot, has to be flown in or brought in by boat, and that makes things a lot slower, anderson. >> i'm glad you found a place. we wish you the best. we'll check in with you t

martin and st. barts. authorities on the french and dutch territories say it will take months to recover from the storm. listen to all of this destruction. homes, schools, hotels, destroyed. government buildings, severely damaged, the power company lost the roof, so the generators are not working and nearly half of the water tanks and many of the gas stations are all gone. st. martin's prime minister says things are so desperate that people there have started looting. much needed supplies are starting to go on the island. >>> this is drone footage of the widespread footage on british virgin islands. this is what it sounded like as irma tore through the island. >> this is stronger. our house has destroyed. the wind is blowing on the other side. >> they're doing their own video. the camera zooms in and you can see irma's winds whipping through this home. the british government is coordinating relief efforts to the cluser of islands. the -- cluster of islands. airport is operational but the tower has been com

st. martin and anguilla. we get more, from alex thomson of independent television news. >> reporter: the jetty's broken on this anguilla beach. most pumps are wrecked. so you fill up by hand. but as we do, people arrive desperate to help their families over in st martin. >> it's not good news, what we're hearing about st. martin, so it's about getting my family over here right now. >> reporter: british anguillans keep saying that french st martin, up ahead, was far worse hit, but the french government responded quicker. we wanted to find out. waterside concrete buildings gutted, as if some passing army has done its worst and moved on. the entire green forest slopes burned brown by blown seawater, every leaf stripped by irma's passing. as ever, the poorest get hit hardest. >> i live in there. i was. >> reporter: what are you going to do? >> what can i do? nothing. >> reporter: are you getting help? >> how? >> reporter: government? >> i don't know. we cannot tell you nothing. >> reporter: for now, francisco's s

st. martin.of those victims of the hurricane arrived in france yesterday, and they complained of feeling abandoned, the fact that they were subject to looting and to armed gangs, and that the law and order kind of broke down on the french side of that island, st. martin's, which is half dutch and half french. meantime, the dutch king visited the dutch side of the island yesterday. so macron appears to be coming just a day late. of course, for people that they say have suffered five days for having food and water, they are really objecting a bit to the way the french handled this island, which is of course part of the french territory, but a long way from france. and so the islanders feel a little abandoned through all of this. michael? >> yeah. just very briefly, if you will, jim. he's leaving behind some serious stuff, too. a big strike. >> reporter: absolutely. today is the national day of strike proposed by one of the unions here. and it's being called the first big test for emmanuel macron af

st. martin. this is biggest nar natural disaster to hit a 25eur quory in five years. >> visit fema headquarters in the washington d.c. area. he met with fema nroy anesthesia as well as members of the coastguard. mr. pennsylvania says president trump is keeping a close eye on storm and offering all resources to the state of florida. >> people need to take this storm with great seriousness. it's a storm of historic and epic proportions and efforts of every level of our federal government are here to stand alongside state and local officials in the life saving mission and very soon in recovery mission and very soon in rebuilding. >> hurricane irma also having impact on congress and house will not vote on any legislation tomorrow. that's because so many members will be back in their home districts unable to travel back to d.c. because of the storm. the house majority leaders has rescheduled votes and they evening at the earliest. >> while millions of flor floridians evacuated and got out of harm's wa

let's talk to a jeffrey soaker and he's the host of island ninety two radio in st martin in the virgin 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 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 aroun

st. martin, to the virgin islands. now there are severe shortages of food, water and medicine. sunday, we left with the coast guard on a cutter, as they rushed to st. thomas in the u.s. virgin islands to bring needed supplies and evacuate stranded americans to puerto rico. we're just coming into st. thomas, the hardest hit of the u.s., you can see already the evidence of irma. because all of this used to be green. the leaves are no longer on the trees. many of the trees are down. many of the structures here destroyed. >> we'll have water. we'll have dry food, some clothes for kids in need and dropping off federal agents to help with law enforcement and try to reopen the airport and the ports in st. thomas. >> reporter: the department of defense says 4600 service members are helping with relief efforts in the virgin islands and puerto rico. while the lucky one from other devastated island st. martin are evacuated by c-130s. what did it soupnd like when it was hit? >> a sound i never want to hear in my life. >> like an airplane engine. >> like a high whistle. >> reporter: an esti

st. martin. we caught up with him by phone again today. >> any type of rain, any type of wind that we have as a result of maria will devastate those that are already devastated further. >> reporter: the exodus that began on these islands after irma has now kicked into overdrive. but for many, it's too late. on st. croix, ashley bouzianis and her family are getting out. >> in an hour after we booked our flight, the remainder of the flights sold out. there was nothing left as of last night. >> reporter: for the thousands who can't flee -- >> we are going to make it through. we're strong people. we will rise again. >> reporter: this tropical paradise is becoming a living hell. david wright, abc news, st. martin. >>> we now head to the florida keys. some residents returning to ruins today. many getting their first opportunity to witness the extent of the hurricane damage there. the stunning losses coming into vivid focus for so many tonight. victor oquendo is there. >> reporter: tonight, a heartbreak

st. martin. >> reporter: tonight, the caribbean is bracing for its second major hurricane in two weeks. for some islands, an unprecedented blow. i mean, wow, look at this. on st. martin, we saw firsthand the devastation that irma caused. these are sizable yachts, and yet to the storm they might as well have been tinker toys. on this dock alone, millions of dollars in damage. many on the island have no power, no clean water, and no gas for the generators. relief supplies are getting in -- >> you're a strong man. >> reporter: but the demand is huge. the idea of facing another hurricane with no roof overhead is not very enticing. jeffrey sochran is an american we met who lives on st. martin. we caught him by phone again today. >> any type of rain, any type of wind that we have as a result of maria will devastate those that are already devastated further. >> reporter: the exodus that began on these islands after irma has now kicked into overdrive. but for many, it's too late. on st. croix, ashley bou

hurricane irma hurt st martin on thursday. we are joined hurricane irma hurt st martin on thursday.urricane irma hurt st martin on thursday. we are joined by an official. what is the state of the island? not good. catastrophic. a lot of physical damage to buildings. fortu nately, lot of physical damage to buildings. fortunately, the dutch side has not had any casualties, though the french side unfortunately has. yeah, it... the island is unrecognisable, say many people. we have a lot of work to get where we used to be. to be clear, you were in the netherlands on a business trip before it struck. is this the worst it has ever faced ? before it struck. is this the worst it has ever faced? this is the worst the caribbean, perhaps even planet earth, has ever faced. the caribbean, perhaps even planet earth, has everfaced. we the caribbean, perhaps even planet earth, has ever faced. we are the caribbean, perhaps even planet earth, has everfaced. we are in a hurricane path. we will get a large one and bounce back in a day or two. this is another level of disaster. i cannot find the words w

st. martin and st. barts on tuesday to oversee relief there.tterman joins us from paris to talk about it, mr. macron not necessarily going to be get ago warm welcome. >> no. in fact, it could be quite hostile from what we 'seen, michael. basically a lot of people who have lived on the islands have come back to france we saw a military flight yesterday with a number of people who can complained about the inattention of the french government to their plight. the fact they had to wait five days for food and water. in the meantime, there was looting and armed gangs running around and that sort of thing. so there was a number of complaints about how the french government handled and prepared for this. the island of st. martin is half dutch and half french. they're making comparisons as to what happened on the dutch side compared to the french side. so mr. macron has that on his plate. he'll be talking about rebuilding, and that's a question a lot of people on the islands have, to what extent the government will be behind the rebuilding effort. of th

st. martin. i want to leave you with this number, 60%, for st. martin, 60% of houses that are uninhabitable. what do you do with that and where do you start with the rebuilding? how are kids going to go to school. now is when school starts on the french part of the st. martin island. those people, they don't know if they will ever be able to live there again. >> they are facing a brutal reality and the images are still just the scope of the destruction on these islands is really just beginning to be known. thanks so much. we appreciate it. so coming up for us, back to washington, any moment now, we will see president trump live from the white house, welcoming the prime minister of malaysia. the prime minister who is under investigation by the u.s. department of justice. details on that ahead. i count on my dell small business advisor for tech advice. with one phone call, i get products that suit my needs and i get back to business. ♪ parts a and b and want more coverage, guess what? you could apply for a medicare supplement insurance plan whenever

this is the neighbouring island of st martin, getting hammered.of 185 miles an hour. more than 70,000 people live on the low—lying island which is made up of dutch and french territories. the power of irma everywhere to see. shipping containers tossed around like lego bricks. the authorities here are warning the death toll is likely to rise. and it's not over yet. the un is now warning irma could affect 37 million people. these remarkable pictures, taken from the international space station, show the storm tracking north—west towards the dominican republic, haiti and cuba. its forecast to hit the florida coast at the weekend. irma is farfrom irma is far from finished and already on the horizon in this brutal hurricane season, are hurricanes jose and brutal hurricane season, are hurricanesjose and katya. jon donnison, bbc news. well, let's get the latest on the path of hurricane irma and where it's heading, here's chris fawkes. thank you. you might remember yesterday we were talking about this category five hurricane, the second strongest hurricane

st. martin.hat do we know about the americans on this flight? >> reporter: we know that many of them are american students, some of them american tourists whose vacations turned into nightmare when the storm ripped through st. martin. all of them have been making this 45 minute flight to puerto rico thanks to the folks at the puerto rican national guard. many of the people that i've had a chance to speak to the last -- in the last few hours are trying to make their way back to the actual mainland but i tell you when they arrive here there is a sense of relief and they all appear exhausted. many of them have been hunkered down in st. martin scrapping for food, anything they can find. many of the people are overcome with the sense of the relief the moment they set foot here in puerto rico. the last thing i should mention is this tremendous outpouring of support from the people on this island. i've seen people come in with supplies, food, water for these individuals that have had not had any of that

st. martin.ou for talking to us about what it's like and thank you for reminding everybody that they have to stay connected to the people who are in a much worse situation than they could probably imagine. thank you for talking to me this morning. i am happy you are home. >> we are too. thank you. >>> we're just starting to learn the truth of what hurricane irma did to the hardest hit areas. that's where we are here, ground zero for the storm on the american exposure, and there's so much to update you, and we will take a quick break, and cnn "newsroom" will pick up with all the latest. please stay with cnn. ♪ when heartburn hits fight back fast with tums chewy bites. fast relief in every bite. crunchy outside. chewy inside. tum tum tum tum tums chewy bites. >>> top of the hour. 9:00 a.m. eastern. good morning, everybody. i am poppy harlow in new york. >> i am john berman in miami. as bad as it looks around me, even with all of these trees down everywhere i look, it could be worse. how do we know

st. martin tomorrow, bringing aid with him. for more, let's bring in our colleague who has been following irma's aftermath in the caribbean today. walk us through this. so many people are concerned, saying do not forget the u.s. virgin islands, the british virgin islands, cuba. they were devastated. again, these are places we visit on vacation, we say they're paradise. those little slices of heaven, what are they going through? >> especially barbuda. that tiny island that ali was talking about. 95% completely devastated according to the prime minister. he called it, quote, literally rubble. there was no contact with this island for an entire day. it is 2017 and nobody could get a signal out of that island. this was something that was just absolutely devastating. all the public utilities were destroyed. the one hospital on the island had the roof ripped off. they're trying to get that island evacuated still. as we move sort of west to east, st. martin, you mentioned that, it is a half dutch territory, half french territory. ther

st. martin. and the day long struggle to get home. >> police arrest a teenager accused of groping women in a popular park. authorities say 19 year-old harris touched women inappropriately on several occasions. dating back to last fall. in one case, they say harris expos exposed himself to a woman. he's charged with unlawful sexual contact, sexual harassment and indecent exposure. >>> a man died trying to save his wife from a fire. he didn't realize she had already escaped the flames. that fire started just before midnight last night on west 36th street. family members tell us the victim monroe got out first. but couldn't find his wife. he went back trying to find her. he didn't make it back out. his wife was treated first-degree r joufor injuries he suffered sumping from the roof. >> family and friends pay final respect to coach. villa nova campus the site for the funeral services. many former players showed up to pay respects. he passed last month after a long battle with cancer. he will most be

st. martin.s hurricane irma, still incredibly powerful is 55 miles norm of san one and continues moving west northwest at 15 miles an hour. seen they definitely had hurricane conditions and did not get the pounding and direct hit that some of those smaller islands in northern lee wards got. let me show you radar. we can see that thing spinning and we believe there's something called an eye wall replacement cycle going on. so, it's had a 15 mile wide eye. we believe that is contracting now and that may be a sign that after this eye wall replacement is over this hurricane could get stronger and this is not a good scenar that's for sure. let me show you the latest track in a little while, 5, 40 minutes we'll have a new track from the national hurricane center and see if there's adjustment to what happened. if you were watching earlier today you may know the track did shift east based on overnight modeling and trends continuing today. what i'm showing you here all hurricane warnings up and notice cen

storms, hurricane irma is battering the islands of the caribbean, leaving at least two people dead on st martinr hour, hurricane irma has caused flooding and inflicted severe damage to buildings and power supplies. myanmar‘s government rejects accusations that its armed forces are targeting rohingya muslims. and this video is trending on bbc.com the social media site, facebook, says it has discovered a russian—funded campaign to promote divisive social and political messages during last year's us presidential election campaign. that's all from me now. stay with bbc world news. now on bbc news it's time for hardtalk.

here are some of the latest pictures from st martin.severe damage. government buildings on the island are the most sturdy there, they've all been destroyed. this is the interior minister talking after the french government lost contact with the island. as you can see, the wind and rain is battering the island. winds of up to 200mph. surprising that there are any moving pictures of that at all but it does look to be affecting the island, even though, as you can see, power still seems to be available on the island. more on that later and chris fawkes has been explaining just how strong hurricane irma is. it's the second strongest hurricane ever. only ever been one stronger one back in 1980, alan, then there was only five miles per hour difference. we are getting hints of some damage being caused. the afp news agency is quoting an interior ministry saying government buildings on st martin, the most sturdy buildings there, have been destroy and they've not heard from barbuda at all. it seems to be that we are getting reports of impacts comi

st. martin.and they are facing yet another threat from maria. they are in the hurricane watches across the leeward islands, including st. martin. you can seat tropical storm watches new to the 5:00 a.m. updates. they've included barbados in the tropical storm watch as well. the latest forecast path does show rapid intensification up to a major category three hurricane, 205 kilometer per hour or roughly 120-mile-per-hour sustained winds. we have three-named concurrent storms, jose on the east coast of the u.s. maria and tropical storm lee. this is nearly the peak of the season or we've just passed over that. so one would expect an active tropical season, but good riddance. we have seen our fair share this year. reminds me of 2004 and 2005, though we're not quite there yet. here's an update on hurricane jose, a large and expansive storm system. the official track keeps it off the east coast. that doesn't mean we won't feel the impacts from the outer banks to the southeastern new england coastline.

st. martin and guadalu guadalupe. for now, alyson, the real focus is trying to get people out who still want to get out. there are still thousands of people on st. martin. it is still pretty desperate indeed. >> clarissa, thank you for that update. let's talk about how to get aid to the people who most desperate lu need it. we have officials from the virgin islands to tell us what they're doing next. s advisor for tech advice. with one phone call, i get products that suit my needs and i get back to business. ♪ won't replace the full value of your totaled new car. the guy says you picked the wrong insurance plan. no, i picked the wrong insurance company. with liberty mutual new car replacement™, you won't have to worry about replacing your car because you'll get the full value back including depreciation. switch and you could save $782 on home and auto insurance. call for a free quote today. liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance. [fbi agent] you're a brave man, your testimony will save lives. mr. stevens?

st. martin.e-force winds, a wide span, storm surge up to 11 feet as it reaches turks and caicos. that's how much this storm is sending the ocean up behind it. tropical storm jose will be a hurricane by tonight. so dangerous as it heads toward florida. here at home here's our seven- day forecast. temperatures tomorrow drop with a 20% chance of rain and then we'll be warming back up as we get to the weekend. guys? >> thank you. >>> livermore high schools are kick off the football season with something new by giving players state-of-the-art helmets to protect them from concussion. the high-tech helmets are being by the freshman, jr. varsity and varsity football teams at two high schools. they are designed with inflatable and adjustable air chambers to increase head protection. >> these are the only schools that i know that have an entire set for all players. >> the helmets arrived over the summer at a cost of more than $100,000. >>> time now 6:52. with president trump ending the daca program, there

st. martin.to "early start" this morning. >> some surprising comments from the president's spokes person about prosecuting james comey but up first, the florida keys in ruins and starting down a long road to recovery. authorities in a handful of residents finally reaching some of the areas hardest hit by hurricane irma. 25% of the homes on this chain of islands destroyed. another 65% suffering major damage according to initial fema estimates. >> there are some signs of progress. about 80% of the roads in the keys are now cleared and according to the florida department of transportation, u.s. 1 and all of those 42 bridges linking the keys have been inspected and are now safe for travel. >> key west international airport and florida keys marathon international have opened to handle emergency response fliegtsghts. a dusk to dawn curfew also remains in place until further notice. >> about 5 million customers throughout the southeast still without power. that's 5 million customers. the majority of tho

hurricane ripped roofs off homes and devastated parts of the french territories of st barts and st martintwo people have lost their lives. translation: i want, firstly, to say a few words to express our profound compassion and solidarity to our fellow citizens who today were affected by hurricane irma on st martin and in st barts. these pilots flew into the eye of the storm, a unique view of the sheer scale of this hurricane and, at its core, are those catastrophic 185 mile an hour winds, and that is what they fear on the island of puerto rico. the aim is to try to save as much as possible. neighbours are handing out wood boarding and supplies. this shop owner describes them as "angels". we're a strong island. you know, we've been through this before, so... you know, it's a lot of emotions going on, you know. the governor has been inspecting one of the shelters set up for the thousands who are expected to evacuate low—lying areas. we are hopeful that it'll skid off somewhere north—east of puerto rico, but we're prepared for the worst as well. we can't leave anything to chance, and our pri