Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20170909

The series against the west indies, winning the third test at lords by nine wickets. Good evening and welcome to bbc news. Hurricane irma continues to leave a trail of destruction across the caribbean, today hitting the largest island cu bas northern coastline, cutting power and engulfing villages in storm surges. It hit in the early morning, with winds of up to 160mph. More than a Million People have been moved to safety, along with thousands of tourists, many of them british. The hurricane is expected to reach florida early tomorrow, landing initially in the florida keys and then moving across the south west of the state. Millions of people were ordered to leave their homes. Tonight, time ran out and those who stayed are told it is too late to leave. Will grant reports from the cuban capital, havana. Cu ba ns cubans had hoped they might avoid the worst of Hurricane Irma, they had no such luck. With the full force of the category five storm, the hurricane tore through the islands northern shore, the storm sirjohn was unclear completely engulfing several small fishing villages. Electricity and communication links are right across swathes of the country. Some communities along the coast are wondering how they will ever rebuild, others are bracing themselves for temp ones impact. Even in the big cities, people are getting nervous. Translation im really worried. My home is in a good state so i really hope the hurricane stays away and start smoothing out to sea. It is one of the bigger storms we have ever seen, so we one of the bigger storms we have ever seen, so we have one of the bigger storms we have ever seen, so we have to get ready. As Hurricane Irma rumble stunned the coast of cuba, even those places that were supposed to serve as safe havens like the capital, have banner, are not under hurricane warning and for the many thousands who were evacuated here, well, they arejust hoping they who were evacuated here, well, they are just hoping they still have homes to go back to. Cuba was in the middle of the tourism boom when the storm struck and thousands of holiday makers find themselves suddenly trapped in the biggest hurricane to hit cuba in more than 80 years. Among them are british couple who were evacuated from their honeymoon. They blame their tour operator, thomas cook, for not providing more information. The ones that were with thomas cook, the brits, were pretty much left in the dark until thursday morning when a representative said the point to evacuate by coach to another resort. It just evacuate by coach to another resort. Itjust means that we have been evacuated from one soon for the hurricane is going to hit to another one. In reply, thomas cook has defended their Emergency Response, saying they said they followed the instructions of the cuban government to tra nsfer instructions of the cuban government to transfer tourist to that of the resort. This event could also cut short cubas efforts to rebuild its crippled economy. Tourism has been the islands main economic motor recently, irma may have set that back for many months. On the line is dave oakley, whos on holiday in varadero in cuba. Hello, dear. You feeling, nate . Im really annoyed and angry with thomas cook in terms of how they have dealt with the british tourists. Thomas cook keep saying they are just following the advice that others have given them, but British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have flown all the tourists back to safety in the united kingdom. We we re safety in the united kingdom. We were asking from tuesday our local representative in the area if we could be flown out to safety. Thomas cook are not find anyone out of here. We understand that your resort is on lockdown, is that right . The hotel we are in at the moment, we we re hotel we are in at the moment, we were told that ten oclock this morning, not to come out of our rooms unless we morning, not to come out of our ioottis unless we were morning, not to come out of our rooms unless we were advised by a member of the hotel staff. |j rooms unless we were advised by a member of the hotel staff. I have a statement here from thomas cook, i will come to that in a moment. What to in the resort now with irma. Where we are at the moment, looking out of the window, the wind is horrendous. The palm trees are going sideways. The wind is coming in sideways. The wind is coming in sideways. It is horrendous. Let me ta ke sideways. It is horrendous. Let me take you through some extracts from the statement. They said that the cuban the statement. They said that the cu ban authorities carried the statement. They said that the cuban authorities carried out a full evacuation of the low lying areas on thursday, moving customers to stay in the peninsular, confirming it is on lockdown. They go on to say that oui on lockdown. They go on to say that our special Assistance Team is on the ground there with our customers, along with resort staff providing as much information and reassurance as possible, however during lockdown they are confined to hotel rooms therefore unable to meet with customers individually or give any briefings. They go on to say that the teams in the uk are working hard to a nswer the teams in the uk are working hard to answer questions from customers and we have set up a friends and family line. What do you make of that . It is disgusting. They say that . It is disgusting. They say that they are following advice. They fetched an entire plane of people into this hurricane. Would you like to have been flown home . We we re you like to have been flown home . We were asking on tuesday to be flown home. When we find out on tuesday that the hurricane was coming this way, we were asking to be flawed and come back to safety in the uk. Once this is over, have the representatives that there with you in the uk, have they said what will happen question no, no. Obviously, when it dies down. We have been told we have another meeting at some point tomorrow and at that time they will assess the situation and try to find information as to when they can get us back to the united kingdom. Did any of your group of tourists holidaying contact the embassy is at all or seek cdna conscious assistance . I couldnt tell you if anybody has spoke to the conjugate. Finally, what is the hotel like that youre staying, doesnt have all the amenities, argue provided for . The hotel was closed down by the cuban government. It was dropped to a one star hotel by the cuban government then closed down because it was in such bad repair. It only got opened up such bad repair. It only got opened up again on thursday afternoon just to put the british holiday makers in. I have photographic evidence of fire extinguishers that have not been checked for over five years. We passed fire alarms that have been smashed in. It is absolutely horrendous. 0k, dave, we have run out of time unfortunately. We will leave it there. I hope you get through the hurricane safely and your return journey home happens as quickly as possible. Dave, speaking to us from temp in cuba. From varadero in cuba. Here, the government says its continuing to step up military support to the region. Around 500 troops are now in the region, some of those are being deployed to the British Virgin islands, which was badly hit with at least five people feared dead. Our correspondent laura bicker is one of the first journalists to reach the islands and described what she had seen. Well, we have just flew over the Virgin Islands and i can tell you that some of the devastation is very difficult to witness. Houses look that they have been blown apart in places. Once prized possession now scattered and in ruins. You can see the effects of that 20 foot storm surge. Boats live lifter try to run the island and where they have been blurred together they have been crushed and sent flying into pieces. There has been criticism here of the british governments response to this crisis. I can tell you that the Royal Army Engineers are here. They are assessing this runway as a priority, thats because they need to get temp two in people out. There has also been concerned about looting but i have been told by the Deputy Governor that they are trying to get things under control, but there is still a lot of work to do here. Joining me know from las vegas isjude holmes, coordinator and medic for the Virgin Islands search and rescue in the British Virgin islands. Thank you forjoining us. You look very worried. Tell me what has happened. I am worried. Very worried. Tell me what has happened. Iam worried. Ifor very worried. Tell me what has happened. I am worried. I for one, very worried. Tell me what has happened. I am worried. Ifor one, i know my husband is safe. I know he is alive. There are a thousand people thousands of people in bvi that are still unaccounted for. You manage to evacuate. What have you been hearing since then . There is very little communication coming out of the bvi at the moment. This Cell Phone Network and the internet signal is very patchy and only localised to a few areas. It is utter, utter devastation. The level of damage that we are seeing from the British Virgin islands is unbelievable. Can you confirm that your husband is safe, your friends are your husband is safe, your friends a re safe . Your husband is safe, your friends are safe . He has of this morning, i know he is alive. I dont know his current location. The British Virgin islands is over 60 islands. It is very mountainous. People are com pletely very mountainous. People are completely cut off from communications, they are running out of food and water. Even with the military, it will take days for some of those people to get access to any supplies, medical support and any internet or cellphone communication. As far as the relief effort, what are you hearing neither irma has passed . What are you hearing neither irma has passed . What is are you hearing neither irma has passed . What is getting through to people who need it most . At present we know that the rfa mounts bay is in location. It is in the islands now. We are hearing reports that an aeroplane has landed at our airports. The department of Disaster Management is running out of the hospital and is starting to provide relief to residents, although the process is very slow. With hurricane jose pass into the north of the Virgin Islands, everyone isjust making sure that they are safe. We spoke to a gentleman who was trying to coordinate some sort of relief effort through porter ricco, but he was hinting that things were pretty bad shape there and he was pointing to what was going on at the hospitals. What do you know about how the hospitals are coping . At present, our communication is very minimali present, our communication is very minimal i cant speak with any accurate information. I know from friends who are medics who are in the uk who work for our Hospital Services that the hospital has been inundated from people seeking shelter and medical assistance. This is why it is so important that continued aid and medical assistance is sent to the British Virgin islands as soon as possible. Are you able to return . Up to 60 islands make up the bvi, our boats available . The level of damages unfathomable. A lot of boats have been washed 20 feet up on to the shoreline. A lot of boats and marinas have been destroyed. People who have Services Available and Good Samaritan Community Members are using their boats that are operational to assist in any way possible. At present the islands are only accepting humanitarian workers and aid. I present the best thing i can do is stay put until a time that we can go and be of actual assistance. We will leave it there for now. Thank you very much. The storm is expected to make landfall with the us coast tomorrow, before heading inland. In florida, more than six Million People, a quarter of its population, have been told to evacuate. Aleem maqbool reports from miami. Even so many miles out to sea, irma is making her presence felt on the american mainland. Theres 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, we were going to leave. We got up and saw on the tv all the traffic 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 apartment. But like i would say, material things, we can build them again. I think the most important is the family, you know . After days of talking, after all the warnings, it is now starting to feel real for the people of florida. The skies have darkened, the winds have picked up, and in the coming hours, people here expect to be in the firm grip of Hurricane Irma. Nasas recorded this spectacular footage of the eye of irma, and its massive cloud mass all on a projected course for florida. This is a deadly major storm and our state has never seen anything like it. Millions of people from florida will see a major Hurricane Impact with a deadly, deadly storm surge and life threatening winds. With a deadly, deadly storm surge and lifethreatening winds. In spite of all the ominous warnings, there are many in florida who will leave their homes, like vince, who besought preparing his house. Whats out of your hands, out of mother natures hands, you cant control. What you can control is boarding up, protecting it, having water and generators, having gas. Down the road, christina, who says she is staying put. Im not scared. I know what will happen will happen, so why be scared . Dont be scared. But thousands dont want to risk gambling with nature. They re anxious, though, about the city they will emerge out into once irma has passed. Aleem maqbool, bbc news, miami, florida. Lets get more reaction from the state of florida. Major richard rand is from the North Miami Beach Police Department and hejoins me live via webcam. Thank you forjoining us again. It looks like the calm before the storm behind you, quite literally. This is our operations centre. We are not outside right now because the winds have picked up tremendously and it is raining. How busy have you been in the build up to this moment . Pretty busy. In the last couple of hours we have seen an increase of calls, power lines down, burglaries in progress. Things like that that we consider normal in a storm like this. And yet you obviously cant attend those calls because of irma coming your way. Once the winds are sustained at a0 miles an hour we pull our patrol units of the road, but when we get the breaks in between the squall through patrol units immediately. We have them positioned all over the city is to we can respond to calls quickly. Man built structures, what are you concerned about . Which areas are at greatest risk . The ones closest to the beach. We are seeing some high water is coming on the beach. From the most part, what we are seeing is that most people have listened to the evacuations and have left the area. There is a very eerie feeling outside because there is very little traffic. It is still early here. How much liaising have you done with the marine or the coastal version of the Police Departments . We have not had had any interaction right now with the coastguard or marine patrol. This sees are not safe for us to be out there, so right weve not have not had any distress calls. How long do you expect to be in that office before you can head butt on the street and start helping people . We are looking at 30 hours. Tropical Storm Force Winds mixed in with Hurricane Force winds and heavy rain, so we are looking at getting either renting a survey of the damage probably monday morning, and this is saturday night. What will be your first port of call . We will start closest to the ocean, closest to the water, and we will move our way inland through the city and we will be looking for heavily flooded areas. Any signs of a car being stuck in the water, anything that does not appear normal. Have you ever had to deal with something of this scale before . I was part of hurricane andrew many years ago and we have had a couple of hurricanes come through here, but nothing like this. I understand that some people have decided to stay at home. Can you tell a about that . What is expected to happen along the archipelago . The florida keys are right in the middle of the storm right in the middle of the storm right now. I cant speak to what the weather is happening there, but the people who decided to stay in their homes that have a strong home, because the way the storm is looking right now, there will be no Emergency Response at this point. Finally, for those people who have not made it to shelters, what has the advice been about keeping safe at home . The Miami Dade County Emergency Operations centre, including us, we were very proactive and got out there a couple of days before the storm was to strike planned and we made contact with the majority of Homeless People and have relocated them to shelters. Im very confident that the majority of the Homeless People have been taken care off and are in a safe place. Thank you very much for that. Tomasz schafernaker from the bbc weather team is in naples in florida. What is going on there . Last time i spoke to you i was indeed in naples and that is an area which lies directly in the path of Hurricane Irmas worst part of the storm, so the core, whether really destructive winds are and whether storm surge will come through. We have left that area now because as the governor said staying there is almost suicide because of the water that could ravage that area. We are leaving and are now approaching fort myers, which also lies in the path of the co re which also lies in the path of the core of the storm. We are going to be having a look at the shelter, a stadium which has been opened here. This is a hurricane shelter which is almost like a last resort for anybody that has decided to stay over they should be able to take shelter here in the stadium in fort myers, which is, as i say, in the path of the storm. We are hearing so much about the storm surge. Can you ta ke much about the storm surge. Can you take us through the mechanics that . Why is there are so much fear and warning being issued about this element of a hurricane . When we think about the harry kane, we automatically think of destructive winds. The winds in irma will be destructive and cause an enormous amount of damage across florida. Perhaps not quite as powerful on the east coast where we have miami, but very powerful on the west side. You are asking about the storm surge. That is the second element to the hurricane. It is the water that comes with the storm and inundate coastlines. The National Hurricane Centre Predicts that the water rise around certain coastal areas of florida could be as high as ten, perhaps 15 feet. A lot of these areas where we are travelling right now, and i dont know if you can see, we arejust now, and i dont know if you can see, we are just approaching the stadium, some of the areas close by are very stadium, some of the areas close by are very low andorra chris cook the storm surge. I believe this area is a little bit higher. The storm surge is pushed by the wind itself, so if you can imagine perhaps even using an analogy here blowing on the surface of water, you can see the ripples of the water. The hurricane is pushing a huge amount of water, ocean water. It travels with the harry kane and then it hits the coastline. It is not a wall of water, it is a gradual rise in sea level which is also additionally topped by high waves. It is a gradual progression to a higher and higher sea level which then inundate the region. To stay safe. Thank you. There is plenty more on Hurricane Irma on our website bbc. Co. Uk news. Well find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrows front pages at 10. 30pm and ii. 30pm this evening in the papers. Guest joining guestjoining me tonight, i have proof, the economic adviser at Arbuthnot Banking group, and Yasmin Alibhai brown, the author and journalist. Thousands of people have attended the Manchester Arena tonight for its first event since the bomb attack which killed 22 people. Among the acts playing at the benefit gig are Noel Gallaghers high flying birds and rick astley. Our entertainment correspondent Colin Paterson reports. Manchester arena, back open for business. There is heightened security with armed police and after the joe security with armed police and after thejoe cordina security with armed police and after the joe cordina will security with armed police and after thejoe cordina will be placed around the arena, but that wasnt stopping those going in from having fun, even if many were experiencing mixed emotions. Obviously, there is a bit of being frightened, but not more excitement. There are to move forward an overall feeling of hope. We are manchester and we are proud. Itll be a challenging evening for this family, who bought tickets for tonight despite being in the a8 when the terrorist bomb off. Scary, nervous, but we will enjoy it. We are here for the 22 people that died. We have to make memories. They cant any more. Inside, the first people to sit in the seat since the bomb exploded in may. Before the concert, Greater Manchester mayor read the name of the 22 victims. Saffie roussos courtney and philip. Then the port tony walsh started proceedings. Always remember, never forget. Tony walsh started proceedings. Always remember, neverforget. The proceeds from tonight will go towards a permanent memorial for those who died. By nine wickets to win the 3rd test at lords, and wrap up the series 2 1. Jimmy anderson, who celebrated his 500 wicket landmark in this match finished with new career best figures of seven for a2. The match also saw henry blofeld, one of the best known voices of cricket, commentate for the last time on bbc radios test match special programme. Now, the weather. Thank you for joining me. It has been a day of mixed weather fortunes in any one location, but costs whilst that area of low pressure has been the dominant driving feature, we have had quite a few showers urged along bya had quite a few showers urged along by a noticeable north by north westerly winds. Lurking in the wings is, if you like, sundays weather. A lot of showers, some thunderstorms, drifting its way towards the south and east. A little build up of pressure just in the first part of the night will kill off some of those showers and underneath the clearing skies some eastern parts may end up having a cool night, especially in the countryside. In east anglia we could get down to four or 5 degrees. Later in the night the temperatures will start to rise as this area of cloud and rain will make its way no one across scotland and Northern Ireland. In the south east, it will bea ireland. In the south east, it will be a bright enough start tomorrow. There will be a lot of dry weather. Moving further west, the cloud will fill in. The main event lurksjust off the coast of wales, but is all over scotland, the far north west of england and Northern Ireland. It is a set of weather fronts bringing the continuous rain. As that bout of weather moves its way towards the east, so what will be replaced by a raft of showers rattling their way in on raft of showers rattling their way inona raft of showers rattling their way in on a noticeable winds across Northern Ireland and increasingly across the mainland of scotland. Further south, it is the tail end of the weather fronts from the north midlands site which will not have an awful lot about it. There will be a speu awful lot about it. There will be a spell of wet weather but it will ta ke spell of wet weather but it will take time before it gets into the south east. Once that is true, low pressure the dominant feature with a lot of isobars on the first part of monday, we could see gusts of 60 miles an hour. Monday will be a blustery, showery sort of day across all part of the british isles. A little bit