Hurricane irma has slammed into the us state of florida and is moving up its west coast bringing widespread coastal flooding, torrential rain, and winds of about 120 miles an hour. Power supplies have been cut to more than three million homes and businesses. Several cities in the state have declared overnight cu rfews to prevent looting. The storm has been downgraded to a category two, but officials are warning of life threatening storm surges. The streets of miamis Business District have been swamped by a up to three feet of water brought by a storm surge. 0ur correspondent, aleem maqbool, is there. They warned miami would flood, and it has. Irmas massive downpours and ocean surges combined to inundate the citys financial district. As thousands from the city hunkered down in hurricane shelters, others captured dramatic footage of the storm coming through. Its probably the hardest its been all day. Of power lines being torn down. Oh my god . Of lethal tornadoes being unleashed. Of a roof being torn off a home, of a smashed crane, and water surging into town. More than a million homes and businesses are already without power. Well, there is barely a soul on the streets anywhere in southern florida. And that is because of the risk of flying debris, the risk of power lines or trees coming down. The Emergency Services say that even for them in the coming hours, it is going to be near impossible to operate. The hurricane first hit florida in the islands of its keys. That right here is the road in front of our house. This surge, im going to go with seven feet. Brian is one of those who defied the orders to leave his home and was live on social media as the eye of the hurricane approached. We are in the eye wall. Im not sure what category it is. Maybe you can tell us what it is now. The massive coastal surges were preceded by this extraordinary sight, the tide being sucked away by the hurricane, building up the energy to be smashed back against the shore with full force. There is a serious threat of storm surge flooding along the entire west coast of florida. And this has increased to 15 feet of impact above ground level in south west florida. We are hearing a lot of mixed reports right now. Alix perez escaped the keys to shelter in a hurricane proof building in miami. He is anxious, keeping in touch with those left behind. A bunch of different areas have Different Levels of housing, some higher and some lower. Some places have floodwaters up to peoples waists, some up to peoples roofs. That is up and down. Up to peoples roofs yeah, very severe flooding. And up the florida coast, more are preparing, warned that Hurricane Irma could make further direct hits. President trump has been meeting with his cabinet to be briefed on the latest. Every group has coordinated really well. I mean, the bad news is that this is some big monster, but i think we are very well coordinated. And after causing so much destruction in the caribbean, its here, and the most densely populated city in its path so far, were so many are still sheltering. 0n the phone now is larry spring, city manager for north miami. Thank you very much indeed for joining us. Things have calmed down relatively in the last few hours for you. Good morning. The wind has died down. But the risk of debris and power lines, in our city, coastal flooding, it still exists. We are still being careful. What reports of looting are being looked at by the authorities . In the surrounding cities there have been no reports. I was assessing the city a few hours ago. I stopped two looters from robbing a store. And they are out there. But the cops are being diligent. But the mayor should help with that. There are key Safety Measures you want to get out there. Absolutely. First and foremost, stay inside. Nothing is open. There is water there are trees down. It is dark, you cannot see when driving, you will be injured. 80 of my city is without lights. Streetlights and signal lights are not working. Tomorrow we will be out assessing and starting the Recovery Process for the roads. There is a danger that with power lines down, some of the waters may be carrying electrical current. That is absolutely correct. Again, thats why we say stay home. We have stationed Police Officers near downed power lines. But obviously, with the state of destruction, which, again, we were lucky, structural damage, trees down, and the like. You talked about assessing tomorrow. How long will it take to get the city back on its feet . Umm, speaking with my staff who have been here for 20 plus years, this level of tree damage has not been at this level since like 1992 when hurricane andrew went through, the last big catastrophic hurricane. We are talking about a couple of weeks to get back to normal. We are working with locals to get things back up to normal. But the minimum is several weeks. Larry spring, thanks very much indeed for your time. Dr lin humphrey is in miami on the 28th floor of a high rise in the brickell district and he joins us from his apartment now. You decided to stay put. Why is that . This building was built after 2008 so it has the highest grade of hurricane windows. The hallways and sta i rwells hurricane windows. The hallways and stairwells are safe if there is any issues around the windows. The local advice is run from floodwater and hide from wind. I was up from the floodwater and say from the wind. When you say safe from the wind, you spend a lot of time in the corridor with your dog who we can just see there, prada. Yeah. We have a really good alert system. It alerted us of several tornado warnings which meant we we re several tornado warnings which meant we were in the path of a potential tornado. We went to the whole way and sat and waited it out. It was perfectly safe, though creepy. By the look of the photo, you were the only ones there. We were. There are 25 units here in the a2 level building occupied right now. So it isa building occupied right now. So it is a little creepy. Can you describe what it is like . You have power, you said it is creepy, but what is it like, what is the noise like . Are you able to see . What is really strange is my bedroom is completely windowed. Tween the windows are drain pipes. It sounds like watching machine. It looks like i was going through a car wash at times. The scariest thing is something by design, the tower started swaying in the wind, which it is supposed to do. In the whole way we can hear it creaking back and forth. That was the only moment i was truly nervous. You teach marketing at Florida International university. It is great to see everyone coming together. How will you help collea g u es together. How will you help colleagues in future try to get back into the city to get the University Open into the city to get the university o e into the city to get the University Open again . We have been told by the president we are closed until further notice. We want to make sure the campus and everything is safe for people to return. Keep in mind with significant power outages, people cannot do on line classes. I will open up my apartment to a colleague, though i dont know who thatis colleague, though i dont know who that is yet. But we dont have power so they will have a place to stay. I am fortunate right now. The power lines or underground. I will do what ican. I lines or underground. I will do what i can. I will try to provide refuge and support for people to come together. Thank you very much. Thank you. Goodbye. In the caribbean, at least 25 people were killed by Hurricane Irma, five of them in the British Virgin islands, where a relief effort is under way. Homes and boats have been destroyed, and a state of emergency declared. Britains foreign secretary, boris johnson, has defended the governments response, saying it would be helping in the long term. The largest of the islands is tortola, from where our correspondent, laura bicker, reports. The British Virgin islands look like they have been hit by the blast wave of a bomb. 0n the biggest island of tortola, houses have been ripped apart and contents scattered for miles. An over 20 foot wave surge crushed boats, beaching them among the rubble. Arron glasgow was at home as irma hit. This section of my mums room, the roof came off. Then my bedroom came off. We ran to the living room. Glass everywhere. We had all this boarded up. Youve lost everything . Everything. People talk about the winds that came through here as if they were alive, as if it had come from another world. And now, five days after the hurricane struck, they are in desperate need of food, of shelter, and clean water. Others are just simply desperate to leave. The shock of seeing this terrifying force of nature is overwhelming. Some are trying to fly home to relatives in the uk. The masson family made it to the shelter after neighbours with machetes hacked through debris to help them hike from their damaged home. We dont know what planes are going, or when theyre going. Literally this morning was the first time we had heard any news at all of what was happening. Some residents have criticised the uk governments response to this crisis as pathetic and slow. There are also reports of looting across the island, as many are desperate for basic supplies. There are large queues for food and for petrol. Help has now arrived. The British Military have brought aid, and are already re establishing order. They are working on a plan to try to restore power and water. One woman told me she wept with relief as she saw the plane land. Hurricane irmas trail of destruction is vast, and yet the caribbean spirit prevails. As our team walked the streets, so many people told us the same message. They are simply grateful to be alive. Hurricane irma hurt st martin on thursday. We are joined Hurricane Irma hurt st martin on thursday. We arejoined by Hurricane 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 when i look at what is happening back home. I cannot imagine it being worse. You are very keen to get a message out to airlines are very keen to get a message out to air lines they can really help here. What is it you would like them to do . We really want the airline is to do . We really want the airline is to reach out to us. The important thing is we are a great point of contact. Thing is we are a great point of co nta ct. We thing is we are a great point of contact. We want them to come back to st martin and bring relief, supplies, get people back home. We even had the Royal Caribbean comeback in and get people on the island. We have 4000 visitors on the island. We have 4000 visitors on the island during the storm. That is a lot of people we need to get out. The airport, the runway is operable and if you did get that help that would at least start the process off. Yes, the airport is barely functional. The tarmac is good, it is safer landing. San juan functional. The tarmac is good, it is safer landing. Sanjuan is doing the tower work for us, the air traffic control. The military is working hard to accept to secure the perimeter. We can accept flights, please get in touch, get people in and get people out. You have also been speaking to the military and aid organisations. What aid is needed . 0bviously clean water is one of the first . Water, water is so important. I think as an island with visitors on board, and with locals, and the sad fact that looting took place yesterday, there isa looting took place yesterday, there is a shortage of water on the island. The medical centre does need basic medical supplies, gauze, you name it. I think the relief organisations, if you gone the websites of the red cross and so on, they know what type of relief we need. Go on the websites. They know what type of relief we need. Go on the websites. You work for the tourist board. How damaging will this be . It is going to be hard. Saint martin is a beautiful island. People want to see and experience a lovely island and awesome people but they need a place to stay, and the fact is that a lot of our hotels are obliterated. There are some properties that ijust cant imagine ever opening again, the way that they are. That is where the way that they are. That is where the infrastructure, we are going to have to do lots of work to have places for tourists to stay. In the interim we know we will have people who want to come back and see not just our island, the surrounding islands like saint barts and anguilla. So from that tourist perspective, the airport will still be able to function as a hub. We will have to count on that. What we will have to count on that. What we will need relief from the world, Financial Relief from everybody around the world. But we will need. Orlando price, can indications director for the need. Orlando price, can indications directorfor the saint need. Orlando price, can indications director for the saint martin government, thank you. Communications director. This is bbc news. You can get more updates about Hurricane Irma on our website. Stay with us here on bbc news. Still to come, smashing boundaries. We meet the girls changing the face of indian cricket. Freedom itself was attacked this morning, and freedom will be defended. The United States will hunt down and punish those responsible. Bishop tutu now becomes spiritual leader of 100,000 anglicans here of the blacks in soweto township, as well as the whites, in their rich suburbs. We say to you today, in a loud and a clear voice, enough of blood and tears enough translation the difficult decision we reached together was one that required great and exceptional courage. Its an exodus of up to 60,000 people, caused by the uneven pace of political change in eastern europe. Iam free this is bbc news. The latest headlines Hurricane Irma has slammed into floridas west coast, with strong winds and storm surges leaving at least three people dead. The first funerals have been held for those killed in a massive earthquake off southern mexico on thursday night. Rescuers continue to dig out the bodies of up to 90 people who were killed in oaxaca and chiapas states, which bore the brunt of the damage. At 8. 1 in magnitude, the earthquake was the strongest the country has seen in a century. Sarah corker reports. This town has been reduced to rubble. This area in southern mexico was hardest hit by thursdays monster earthquake. Churches, schools, homes, roads, have been torn apart, flattened. Through the maze of debris, the first funeral processions. The cop and mac than 85 eagleton and who died when her house collapsed is by mourners. Coffin ofan collapsed is by mourners. Coffin of an 85 year old woman. Many houses have been destroyed, many people buried below the rubble. Rescuers say there is no hope of finding anybody else alive. Translation no, it is no longer race search for people. It is now support for the community. We are recuperating belongings, whatever can be retrieved, assessing the damage and helping the wounded. In daylight, people start to salvage whatever they can. At night, families sleep on the streets. Since the initial 8. 1 magnitude earthquake, there have been more than 700 after shocks. That isnt the only concern. We are here so people do not pollute our houses, because various houses are open. Loot our houses. And there have been after shocks, we want to be outside so we dont get hurt inside. Electricity and Water Supplies were cut off and emergency aid has now started to arrive. While mexico is prone to earthquakes, people here say that in their lifetimes, theyve never seen one so destructive and deadly. Pope francis has had a minor accident while being driven through the streets of cartagena in colombia. You can see him waving to the crowd and losing his balance, hitting his head against the popemobile. After treatment he spent time with workers and residents at a shelter. He later joked that hed punched himself. And in the final hour of his tour, pope francis was given a colourful and musical goodbye. Before he left he made another appeal for peace and reconciliation. He reiterated the need forjustice, in orderfor colombia to move forward on a peace deal signed by the government and former rebels from the farc group, which has now become a political party. In tennis, the world number one rafael nadal has beaten Kevin Anderson of south africa in straight sets to take the us open mens singles final, the last major tournament of the season. The spanish player has won a total of 16 grand slam titles. On saturday, the american player sloane stephens, ranked 83rd in the world, caused a major upset by winning the womens final. Stephens beat her compatriot madison keys to take her first grand slam. Indias women cricketers may have lost to england in the final of the world cup but they still won a major victory on home turf. Cricket clubs across the the country are reporting a surge in interest from young girls. Weve been to one Cricket Academy in hyderabad to see the next generation in training. I will make a record for india. Translation the girl playing here is my daughter. She is showing a lot of interest in cricket. As a parent, i feel that girls should play cricket as well. Notjust the boys. Translation people made fun of my decision to send my daughters to play cricket. The perception about womens cricket was totally uncalled for before. They used to ask us questions like you play with the same rules and bats. I am sure those things will not be repeated henceforth seeing the girls play in the matches in the world cup. Translation i had doubts whether people wou