and now turning back to hurricane irma. of course, in the bahamas. the largest evacuation to date in that island s history is under way. 1,000 people from six islands are being transported to nassau, the capital of the northeast island of the bahamas. nbc s rehema ellis is in nassau, where these people are arrivin . rehema, i can only imagine the fear people have as this is approaching. reporter: yeah, it is a lot of fear, a lot of caution. and people are getting themselves prepared. they ve got 26 evacuation shelters that are going to be open for some people who are coming up from the southeastern bahamas. also for people here in nassau, who might need them. because while we might not get pounded like southeastern section of the country, they re still expecting tropical storm-force winds here, and nassau, the storm surge could be 20 to 25 feet.
this storm is prompting evacuations in the florida keys. there s emergency planning going on right now across florida. take a look at the latest satellite imagery of what is one of the strongest hurricanes recorded in the atlantic, period, in history. this is a storm, irma, that is massive. it is a very strong category 5 hurricane, and then just take a look at the devastation that this inflicted on this harbor on the caribbean island of st. martin. irma also wreaked havoc on barbuda as well as anguila and this is the current projected path, i should say, over the next five days here. right now, it s got its sights set on florida s east coast and we have accuweather storm chaser reed timmer joining us live. what are your concerns about tracking what is a very strong storm of potentially historically strong storm as it hits the u.s.?
makes landfall over florida or north carolina, folks need to get their preparations under way. it is always better to be prepared and then find out the storm doesn t hit you than to have it the other way around. it certainly is. and we know that you were going to keep looking at this for us, allison, as this is making its way over the virgin islands there, as you said, a category 5 is what irma is right now. allison, thank you. puerto rico right now is under a state of emergency. many fear that if the power goes, it s not going to be restored for weeks, maybe months. cnn s george howell is there in san juan, puerto rico. tell us what you re seeing. we see wind, hear the rain. what is the vantage point from where you are? reporter: brianna, along the north shore of this island, which is the part of the island that will be impacted most, the north and the eastern parts of o it, but we are starting to see these conditions deteriorate and it s expected to get worse through the hour.
the problem is it s so close it can be dangerous. and now it s turned deadly. it s a major tourist draw on the caribbean island of st. martin. tourists line up on the beach with only a chain link fence between them and an active runway at princes juliana international airport. the blast from the jet engines on passenger planes about to take off literally knock thrill seeking tourists off of their feet. on wednesday, the blast from one passenger plane sent a 57-year-old woman flying into the retaining wall, killing her. the police force of st. martin said in a statement the airport authorities and other local authorities have taken all necessary measures such as placing of signs to warn the general public not to stand in the path of the jet blast of a departing aircraft because of the danger involved.
demands, they were refused. out of honduras where five syrian nationals are being held. authorities say they attempted to make it to the u.s. with stolen greek passports. we have cnn s alina machado live in miami. this story hits the buzzwords, alina. syria, the u.s., make passports. what s the latest? reporter: yes, the five men were intercepted in the capital of honduras after authorities there say they had traveled through five countries including lebanon, turkey and brazil. the men were stopped for using fake greek passports. interpol involved in tracking the men. but we still don t know why these men were being tracked. authorities in honduras believe the men were heading to the united states likely to travel by land from guatemala through mexico before crossing into the border into the united states. three were also detained in the caribbean island of st. maarten,