but it is going to take time. miguel, thank you very much. obviously all up and down florida they re in dire straits. whether or not they re on the mainlands or the islands. chris was talking about this feeling of paradise lost there. the islands in the space of 24 hours have been thrust back 50 years. there is no technology, no water, no power, they can t communicate with each other. we are seeing that all throughout the caribbean as well. there is some looting that is going on. 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.
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 coordination between different countries. while the french are in charge of french 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
do you hear us, chris? reporter: i got you, alyson. you re making the exact right point. just take a look at the house behind us if you can see us. i ve never seen anything done by a hurricane like this. it is completely hollowed out. where bill is in marathon, it s bad. but it ain t big pine key. this isn t a competition for catastrophe. it is just to understand the scale of what we re dealing with here. we re talking about years of rebuilding, months of restoring power and water, essentials for life. that s the big concern, how do you keep people s heads level? how do you keep people okay? how do you allow them to live? when we were talking to people yesterday, they would come up with a big smile on their face. ptsd.
weg see during a catastrophe, the humanity that comes out. thank you very much for being with us today. that you know, alyson. john berman was weathering the storm. i thought you were going to be blown backwards. i can t believe you were able to stand your ground during the worst of the storm. reporter: i spent much of yesterday evening convincing the people who love me that i wasn t close to serious peril. waking up to mud and debris. how much is it and when will things get back to normal? i will speak to two area mayors next.
message discipline and a lack of personal discipline in terms of what he spokes to and what he says publically and privately. those are facts beyond dispute. no matter how much you hate me or chris cuomo. no one hates alyson. chris cillizza thank you very much. so our news coverage of the bombing in manchester england will continue through the tday. sa on a perfect car, then smash it into a tree.