Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News At Five 20170906 : comparem

Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News At Five 20170906

Likely miss the rest of the season because of his ongoing hip injury. The world number 2 says its the best decision for his long term future. I did my first ever commentary for Bbc Television from this very gantry. And in those days, nobody had heard of the internet, although i can vouch for the fact that i did say once upon a time, its in the net. And, the unmistakeable voice of football for half a century john motson decides to call it a day. Its 5 oclock. Our main story is that Hurricane Irma one of the most powerful storms ever recorded in the atlantic is now causing major damage on a number of caribbean islands. It first hit Antigua And Barbuda, before moving on to saint martin and st barts. Communications with those islands are down, but irma is believed to have caused widespread flooding and damage to buildings. The category 5 storm with sustained winds of 185 mph, and gusts of up to 225mph is now heading towards the British Virgin islands, puerto rico and then may hit florida by the end of the week. Airports have closed on several islands, and people have rushed to shops for food, water, and emergency supplies before taking shelter. Officials have been warning of potentially catastrophic effects, as our correspondent Richard Galpin reports. The Leeward Islands of the caribbean are now being battered by this huge storm. This unverified video apparently showing winds of more than 180mph hitting the tiny island of saint martin. Its becoming clear is that there has been significant damage here. Its becoming clear that there has been significant damage here. The storm surge flooding this area near the coast, and the wind ripping apart some buildings. The whole roof has gone. In the sky above, this special us Research Plane also takes a battering as it flies right through the hurricane, collecting vital data. For the crew, its a wild ride. Higher up, a satellite captures the seething, churning power of this, one of the biggest atlantic storms on record. And from the International Space station, a sense of how big an area the storm clouds cover. Knowing that the islands of Antigua And Barbuda would be amongst the first to be hit by the hurricane, people here started moving to safety yesterday. Here we are on market street, usually a very, very busy street in stjohns. Not busy today, its a ghost town. While antigua may not have been hit too badly, the situation in barbuda is not known. The biggest cause for concern right now is we seem to have completely lost contact with our sister island, barbuda. Theyre getting really the full force of this right now. I think they are currently in the eye and that should be coming to a close soon. And then they are going to get those 185 mile winds happening again shortly. So we will be very grateful when we hear and finally get some news back from barbuda. Hurricane irma is steadily moving west and is thought to have damaged several of the islands its passed over so far. So now, even as far away as florida, people are stocking up with supplies. The hurricane is expected to make landfall here by the weekend. Theres a new and seems to be record breaking hurricane headed right towards florida, puerto rico and other places. We will see what happens and we will know in a very short period of time but it looks as though it could be something that will be not good, believe me, not good. The storm is massive, and the storm surge predicted will go for miles and miles. Its incredibly important that all floridians keep a close eye on this incredibly dangerous storm. Do not sit and wait to prepare. Get prepared now. And already, the us authorities have ordered everyone living in the very vulnerable area of the florida keys to leave. Richard galpin, bbc news. Bearing in mind the westward path that this immensely powerful hurricane, we can bring you images from puerto rico, sanjuan beach, where they will be preparing for the onset of the storm. As we heard from President Trump earlier, the signs for those in the past, are not good, as the president called it, because the hurricane is heading towards puerto rico and the rest of the caribbean. People have suffered flooding and loss of communications. In puerto rico right now we are told preparations are being made in some detail. We can go to cuba and havana. 0ur correspondent will grant joins us from havana. Thinking of islands in the path and the people in the path of the storm, what can you tell us about preparations in cuba . Cuba has a very good track record when it comes to hurricane preparedness. Cubans tend to do what they are told by the government when it comes to the evacuation orders. Indeed, for some there can be consequences if they dont carry out instructions as ordered. By and large, if they are trying to clear an area of population, they have quite a lot of success population, they have quite a lot of success in doing that. But there is a limit of what you can do against the storm of this magnitude. The real fear is the sum of the coastal communities along the northern coast of cuba, where we think irma is going to barrel along the coast before potentially heading up to florida. They are very concerned about storm surges which could be several feet about storm surges which could be severalfeet high about storm surges which could be several feet high and cause severe destruction on that northern coastline. The governor of florida was delivering another warning to people today to be on the lookout, not just people today to be on the lookout, notjust in people today to be on the lookout, not just in coastal people today to be on the lookout, notjust in coastal areas, but inland as well. What about the degree of preparation in cuba . As other people have been pointing out, there is a limit to what people can do. Yes, and if you look behind me, there is quite a calm day in her still. There is no sense of panic at this stage. I would say there is a couple of days to go before it reaches cuba, certainly the eastern tip of the island will maybe receive the initial wins as early as tomorrow. But we havent seen those scenes of panic buying of water. But this is a country that has other difficulties. It has been under decades of a us economic embargo, so getting hold of Construction Materials to board up your home with is tricky. It can be hard to find basic goods. People heading out to things like fresh water supplies, gas, all of that can be a real issue. Will grant, our correspondent in havana, on the latest preparations there. 0n the line is the Prime Minister of Antigua And Barbuda gaston browne. We are very grateful for you joining us, Prime Minister. Can you bring us up us, Prime Minister. Can you bring us up to date on the experience on your islands . Absolutely. We have certainly weathered what would have been one of the most powerful hurricanes to have made its way through the caribbean. I have to say that we have had some stunning results. The forecast initially predicted there would be severe devastation and destruction. However, so far, we have no reports of any casualties or fatalities arising from the passage of irma. I think its an impressive story of readiness and resilience. The people of Antigua And Barbuda heeded the warnings. They have treated the storm with the absolute seriousness it deserves. In that sense we have been spared the projected horrendous damage predicted. Within a matter of hours, Antigua And Barbuda should be open for business. We believe that will be in the next 12 hours, the airport will be available to take commercialflights. Airport will be available to take commercial flights. What we airport will be available to take commercialflights. What we have done as well, is we have made sure we have cleaned up most of the trees, putting the broken trees and debris away. We still have power lines down. We believe most of the country will be restored with power by the end of the day. In that sense we have shown resilience with our infrastructure. I think the preparedness of our people was exemplary, and certainly a model for other countries to follow. You talked about readiness, could you give some practical examples of the kind of measures you took, which you think have been really important in the outcome you have been describing . Over the years we have been paying attention to the Building Code here, making sure all the buildings here, if not all of them, over the last few decades, will have been built to withstand storms of 200 mph. In addition, the public facilities have been repaired and strengthens to deal with those types of storms. In the last 72 hours we have spent an enormous amount of resources to clear all the drains that were blocked, we made sure the storm water would be able to flow freely, and as a result we did not have that much serious flooding. I would say the preparedness in terms of people securing themselves and their families, their property and valuables, will have been exemplary. Asa valuables, will have been exemplary. As a result, the damage is minimal compared to what would have happened if we were not ready. What are your thoughts on the path of the hurricane and what it could yet bring in terms of damage, when you think of other islands and countries and nations that lie in that path . |j understand and nations that lie in that path . understand that at saint martin there is a significant amount of damage already. We have been lucky. We are not totally clear as to the position on barbuda. The last time we had an update was around 3am. At that time we were told there was property damage, but not extensive. We are hoping thats still the case. We are hoping thats still the case. We are hoping thats still the case. We are arranging to fly over to barbuda very shortly. They have had the all clear, so we can get a more accurate picture as to the extent of the damage on barbuda. But in any event, i believe because we are accustomed to these hurricanes, i believe the islands within the caribbean, over the last couple of decades in particular, will have improved their resilience. I would say it ranks above many other islands in the caribbean in terms of its preparedness. Thank you very much forjoining us. Absolute pleasure. Thank you. The Prime Minister of Antigua And Barbuda there. Good of him tojoin us. The bbc weather presenter chris fawkes is here now to tell us more about the hurricane. The Prime Minister was talking about antigua but there were questions about barbuda. Reports are not so clear, is a callous about that picture. One thing you have to bear in mind with hurricanes is how tightly packed around the eye wall the high winds are. But in the video footage, you can see the maelstrom of the storm around the eye wall. Going to around 50 kilometres away from the centre of the britain, the winds were around 50 mph. But around the eye wall, it is up around 200 mph. Taking a look at where the storm hit, antigua is about here, just to the south of the eye wall. Barbuda is here, going straight through the middle of the storm, so i would expect the strongest wind, biggest damage and most disruption to have affected barbuda. If they havent got much damage, they have done incredibly well, but the full picture of what the storm has done will emerge over the coming hours and days. From barbuda the storm has been working in a westward, north westwa rd been working in a westward, north westward direction. Going over the island of saint martin and aguilar as well. Apparently some of the strongest buildings on saint martin, the government owned buildings, have been destroyed, giving some idea of the power of the storm. Powerful winds are just one factor. The other factor is the storm surge and in the centre of these hurricanes we get deep pressure causing the Ocean Surface to bulge upwards. The bulge of water comes inland and and dates anything. We are expecting this water to work across the islands. Umesh and in and dates anything. And in and dates anything. At the British Virgin islands, the storm is expected to reach 11 foot high, those storm surges. I am six foot three, so imagine two of me slamming into these areas on land. Not to mention that, we have severe rainfall as well. Hundreds of millimetres of rain falling well. Hundreds of millimetres of rainfalling in well. Hundreds of millimetres of rain falling in a short period of time. A number of records to be broken. Notjust the storm surge, but the amount of rainfall as well. The full picture will emerge over the coming days. After the British Virgin islands, puerto rico is on the calling list, as well as the bahamas, and all the models are sharply turning the storm to the east and into florida. We will know if it gets there because its expected to reach their around sunday night. That could cause some big problems in the coming days. On the trajectory, how reliable is that projection at this stage, several days out . We could do island by island over the next few hours. It will deftly hit the British Virgin islands and puerto rico. A lot of projection sending it up to florida but that might not happen. We will have to keep monitoring over the next few days. The headlines. Hurricane irma causing damage as it sweeps across several caribbean islands with saint martin, barbuda and antigua or badly hit. Tighter border controls, a cut on low skilled workers allowed in. Tens of thousands of rohingyas fleeing into bank this. Myanmar rejects accusations its military is undertaking a campaign of violence in this criminally. In sport, andy murray has confirmed his season is most likely over because of an ongoing hip injury. He posted online atan ongoing hip injury. He posted online at an extended period of rest would help in challenge tour grand slams next season. Toby roland jones has been named in place of chris woakes for the third test against the west indies in his home ground of lourdes beginning tomorrow. And its been a tough day in the mountains for chris froome at the vuelta as his overall lead was cut by francesco neighbourly tojust lead was cut by francesco neighbourly to just over one minute. Francesco neighbourly. Theresa may has told the commons the government is committed to controlling immigration, because of the impact it can have on low paid workers and Public Services. But she did not comment on a leaked Draft Home Office document that proposes restrictions on the number of low skilled migrants from the eu after brexit. It also suggests employers should recruit british workers first. Business leaders have expressed concern about the proposals. The food and drink Federation Said they showed a deep lack of understanding of the vital contribution made by eu workers. Our Home Affairs Correspondent Daniel Sandford reports. For many voters, it was the key issue on which they made their choice in the brexit referendum. What should britains immigration policy be for eu citizens . Today, a government document leaked to journalists from the Guardian Newspaper gave some answers. The key philosophy being that immigration should benefit notjust the migrants themselves but also make existing residents better off. Those who have campaigned for years for lower immigration are delighted. Its broadly on the right lines. Its to be welcomed. If implemented, as proposed, then we see a considerable, significant reduction in the sort of numbers coming from the eu, which is what people broadly voted for a year and a bit ago. The document is clearly a recent draft of the home offices long awaited white paper on immigration after brexit. 0fficials here insist it is not the latest draft, its very much a work in progress and the cabinet is still arguing over it. That said, its not back of the envelope stuff either. It is more than 80 pages of proposals. One of the key phrases in the draft says that, wherever possible, uk employers should look to meet their labour needs from resident labour. But businesses insist theyre already doing that. They do everything they can to employ british workers, its just very difficult. Sometimes you have skills gaps that you need to fill with people from outside the uk, and thats just the way it is. The draft proposes that any eu citizen already living here before a certain not yet specified date would be allowed to stay. And even after brexit, there would be a transition period of at least two years. But at that point, the key proposals suggests that Free Movement for eu citizens ends, they would need passports, not id cards at the border, two year work permits would be available for eu citizens, though highly skilled workers could get longer permits. For the holiday and hospitality industry, like butlins in bognor regis, the future could be a real challenge. 30 of their workforce are eu citizens and they may find themselves applying for lots of work permits. I think nationally coastal resorts struggle to recruit, so recruiting from the European Market is really important to us. Todays leaked document will only fuel the debate about britains future immigration policy. Daniel sandford, bbc news. As we heard, firms that rely on eu workers have warned of the catastrophic impact of proposals to cut unskilled migration on the day britain leaves the eu. Under the leaked proposals, firms would have to recruit locally, unless they could prove an economic need to employ eu citizens. 0ur correspondent iain watson has some more of the days political reaction. When britain leaves the European Union, the government wants to reassure businesses that the economy wont, as they put it, fall off a cliff edge. So there wont be massive changes to eu migration for at least a couple of years. But the leaked document points to a sea change in attitudes after that, with far more restrictions on unskilled workers. In the commons today, the snp asked the Prime Minister to restate the b

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