florida's governor ron desantis warned 1.5 milion people to evacuate tuesday night — but not everyone chose to leave. rescue efforts are widespread. officials say dozens were pulled to safety in a small motorboat in a coastal town where knee—high waters covered streets. fire and rescue workers are searching for those in need. 0ne boat rescued 75 people so far. at his latest press conference, governor desantis said there has been significant damage and crews are working to respond. accordingly, the search—and—rescue accordingly, the sea rch—and—rescue operations have been search—and—rescue operations have been ongoing from the moment that the storm passed in the hardest hit areas and they are probably gone through about 70% of the areas that they need to to be able to check the people that are in distress and so far all signs have been positive. there is of course a lot of debris to clean up but we will get working with the local communities to ensure the roads are cleared and people can go back to their lives. now that the rain has mostly cleared in florida, it's bringing the toll of idalia into focus. this is fotage from cedar key, filmed by our team on the ground there. as you can see, the skies are blue and the sun is shining but the destruction is clear to see. live now to our correspondent helena humphrey who is in hard hit cedar key. what can you tell us about the conditions there are now? $5 conditions there are now? as ou are conditions there are now? sis you are mentioning, conditions there are now? is you are mentioning, this is one of the hardest hit areas of the big band here in florida. we are now seeing significant devastation and i want to move out of shot so you can see behind me and what you can make out in the darkness as the twisted roof of a gas station which simply blew off with those hurricane winds in the early hours of this morning. we are seeing scenes like that in this area and that wasn't even the most significant problem. the hurricane winds of up to 120 miles an hour this morning, it was of course that storm surge. they can be very life—threatening and a hurricane and thankfully people here did escape with their lives but not their livelihoods. we were down by the water, the gulf of mexico, we understand what is seven foot rushing towards structures there and we saw hotels which had been destroyed. and we just saw remnants of people's lives strewn all around. the beautiful waterfront there, seeing things like microwaves, flatscreen tvs and things tossed out by hurricane winds and the storm surges well. some residents i've spoken to his said they had moved to this part of florida a couple of years ago and they are faced john mccullough hurricane that other parts of the state and now they are dealing with the fact that potentially they have lost theirjobs here, shopped submerged and so on, so once again they are facing the prospect of having to rebuild. we know hurricane ian was at in september last year but this storm has been very significant in terms of the debris which has threatened all about this area and the big band. 0ne has threatened all about this area and the big band. one of the all the most significant storms in the past century in this area according to fema. briefly, the clean—up you mention it will take some time. do authorities have all the resources they need? they are movin: resources they need? they are moving in. _ resources they need? they are moving in. or— resources they need? they are moving in, or the _ resources they need? they are moving in, or the resources. . moving in, or the resources. this morning we spoke to linesmen, people who work on the literacy grid because power has been locked up for almost half a million people between florida and georgia and they are trying to get power back again. it is up here right now and then moving on with more supplies as well in terms of clean drinking water and all the other things people need in this community. but the warning has been particularly in rural communities like this one it's notjust communities like this one it's not just weeks that could communities like this one it's notjust weeks that could be months. not just weeks that could be months. ~ . . , not just weeks that could be months. ~ . ., , ., not just weeks that could be months. . . . , ., ., months. what was it that led to the destruction _ months. what was it that led to the destruction being _ months. what was it that led to the destruction being so - the destruction being so widespread? we the destruction being so widespread?— the destruction being so widesread? ~ . ., , , the destruction being so widesread? . . ., , , ., widespread? we have a series of factors here- _ widespread? we have a series of factors here. the _ widespread? we have a series of factors here. the supermoon - factors here. the supermoon that everybody instantly about now that the gravitational pull when it comes to the tides meant high tide was even higher thanit meant high tide was even higher than it normally is for this time of year. then the fact that these warming oceans are far warmer than average for this year, 2— three celsius form than average, six fahrenheit warmer than average. warming oceans, warm water acts as a meteorologist described as rocket fuel and allows the hurricane is to gain strength so they end up slamming into the coast. that was one reason and recently happens in a hurricane instruction for a long time, normally they travel up long time, normally they travel up the coast from africa unless one was rooting for a long time the coast of honduras and then made landfall going from west to east. so what we're seeing again is a storm and one really in uncharted territory.- in uncharted territory. helena, thank you _ in uncharted territory. helena, thank you for— in uncharted territory. helena, thank you for that. _ the head of the federal emergency management agency — or fema — says idalia is the strongest storm to hit an area known as florida's �*big bend' in more than 100 yea rs. this map shows the peak storm surge as idalia moves up the coastline. you can see in yellow where it could reach up to five feet high. the national hurricane center is warning that the risk of flooding, storm surge, and strong winds continues across georgia and the carolinas, even though idalia is now a tropical storm. earlier i spoke with deputy director of the national hurricane centerjamie rhome for what's expected next. deputy director of the national hurricane centre genie rhome, thanks forjoining us. what's the current situation with the idalia? it the current situation with the idalia? ., , ., idalia? it has transitioned into a tropical _ idalia? it has transitioned into a tropical storm - idalia? it has transitioned into a tropical storm but i into a tropical storm but unfortunately less dangerous thanit unfortunately less dangerous than it was this time last night because of the very heavy rains and flood that appears to be unfolding as we speak over south—eastern georgia, eastern south carolina and south—eastern north carolina. did idalia make landfall as had been anticipated and how widespread was the damage? unfortunately the intensification into a major hurricane prior to landfall did occur. it went inland with the florida big bend near a small community named keaton beach. we don't know much about how badly they were impacted there because for obvious reasons there is no to medication or television, so it will properly take until tomorrow before we truly understand the magnitude of the impact. you truly understand the magnitude of the impact-— of the impact. you have been warnin: of the impact. you have been warning about _ of the impact. you have been warning about record - of the impact. you have been warning about record levels l of the impact. you have been| warning about record levels of storm surges. did we see that it has the worst past or people still need to be wary of water levels? ~ ., still need to be wary of water levels? ~ . ., ~ ., , levels? what we do know is community _ levels? what we do know is community to _ levels? what we do know is community to the _ levels? what we do know is community to the east - levels? what we do know is community to the east of i levels? what we do know is - community to the east of where landfall occurred, cedar key, we do have information from there and we do have footage from there and it looked like they got really substantial storm search, plotted large portions of the island and in some cases cut off transportation and roads so we can only assume that it's only going to be worst when finally get into the communities by the centre of circulation struck dead on. centre of circulation struck dead on— centre of circulation struck dead on. a, ., ., ., centre of circulation struck dead on. ., ., ., , dead on. moving on to what is auoin to dead on. moving on to what is going to happen _ dead on. moving on to what is going to happen next, - dead on. moving on to what is going to happen next, what. going to happen next, what about the communities in georgia and the carolinas? we see on the upper side you a large red splotch.— large red splotch. this is a red area — large red splotch. this is a red area indicates - large red splotch. this is a red area indicates whether heaviest rain in the highest risk of flooding is going to occur and let me help you understand that. the centre of circulation is down here over south—eastern georgia, so all of this tropical moisture is wrapping around and then there is a frontier. so all that is being piled into this narrow red swath, so jacksonville, north carolina, wilmington, north carolina, wilmington, north carolina, wilmington, north carolina, myrtle beach and columbia, south carolina are all in this wealth very heavy rain. in are all in this wealth very heavy rain— are all in this wealth very hea rain. . , heavy rain. in a practical way what can _ heavy rain. in a practical way what can people _ heavy rain. in a practical way what can people along - heavy rain. in a practical way what can people along there | what can people along there expect to see?— what can people along there expect to see? extremely heavy rental rates. _ expect to see? extremely heavy rental rates. when _ expect to see? extremely heavy rental rates. when i _ expect to see? extremely heavy rental rates. when i say - rental rates. when i say probably think it rains all the time of the rain rates here are going to come down so fast that flooding is going to occur and then as the sun set things will get especially dangerous because it'll be really hard for people to see flooded roads. it's a good night to stay indoors.— stay indoors. it's not a hurricane _ stay indoors. it's not a hurricane anymore, i stay indoors. it's not a hurricane anymore, as stay indoors. it's not a - hurricane anymore, as you are saying, it's been downgraded, but by the sounds of things that's not going to me the impact of it will be much lessened?— impact of it will be much lessened? ., . lessened? correct. if we look back and _ lessened? correct. if we look back and we _ lessened? correct. if we look back and we have _ lessened? correct. if we look back and we have done - lessened? correct. if we look back and we have done this l back and we have done this mortality in past hurricane ian, we actually end up losing more people in this set up than we do down here at the coast whether full brunt of the storm surge and when it comes ashore and that's primarily because people mistakenly view this downgrade, this quote unquote downgraded from wind speeds as is less risk. what i'm telling you is the risk is just as is less risk. what i'm telling you is the risk isjust as high in this great area for a life—threatening flooding. in this great area for a life-threatening flooding. when ou life-threatening flooding. when you exoect _ life-threatening flooding. when you exoect to — life-threatening flooding. when you expect to see _ life-threatening flooding. when you expect to see whether- you expect to see whether totally move out? you yes, so it is really starting to exit george as we speak, sort of occurring over south carolina now and will move to south—eastern north carolina over the next several hours and ultimately out to sea. so by tomorrow things should start to improve except for maybe the extreme eastern portion of the artefacts. you spend your career studying and researching hurricanes. 0ther becoming more frequent and more intense? i don't know about becoming more frequent but i think they are becoming more impactful, meaning the same storms are having a bigger impact on communities than they did before partly because our evolving, becoming bigger rainmakers with an evolving climate and partly because more people are moving to the coastline, in the path of the systems. coastline, in the path of the system-— coastline, in the path of the s stems. g . ., systems. 0k, jamie rhome, we will let you _ systems. 0k, jamie rhome, we will let you get _ systems. 0k, jamie rhome, we will let you get back _ systems. 0k, jamie rhome, we will let you get back to - systems. 0k, jamie rhome, we will let you get back to the - will let you get back to the important work you are doing, deputy director of the national hurricane centre, thank you for joining us. hurricane centre, thank you for joining us-_ john dailey, the mayor of tallahassee, has been speaking to the bbc about the impact of idalia on his city. and he reflected on the role of climate change in this storm. i gotta tell you, these storms seem to be stronger and more intense every year. i've been a little 17 years. this is not my storm event in tallahassee but they do seem to seem to be more powerful, they do seem to be bigger and i think that's because the poster think about the environment and global warming and what we are doing. of course, you can get the latest on tropical storm idalia on our website. we have reports form the team on the ground, plus information on which areas are the most impacted, and the latest on the recovery efforts, and more. that's at bbc.com/news. the white house has condemned wednesday's coup in the central african nation of gabon. national security council spokesman john kirby says it's obviously deeply concerning to see yet another country where military officers have taken these dangerous and reckless steps and attempted takeovers of democratically—elected governments. those comments come after military officers named general brice clotaire 0ligui nguema as the transitional leader, following claims that the re—election of the nation's long—time president was a fraud. will ross has more. 0n the streets of gabon, celebrations for africa's latest military leader. earlier, a dozen senior officers said, for the sake of peace, they were putting an end to what they called the regime and were taking over. they cancelled the result of last weekend's election. manyjournalists and observers were barred from monitoring the vote. the opposition said it was a sham. and it was no surprise when this man, president ali bongo, was declared the winner. i am ali bongo 0ndimba, president of gabon. and i'm to send a message to all the friends. but this is him appealing for help just hours after being detained by the military in his presidential palace. the people here have arrested me. here's the president's father, 0mar bongo, at downing street in the �*70s. the same family has been in power in gabon since 1967. today, people are celebrating what looks like the end of the bongo dynasty. these coups seem to be contagious. this is niger, which also saw a military takeover last month. it's been a key western ally in the fight against violent extremism in an increasingly unstable region. along with some highly suspicious elections and eight coups injust three years, democracy in africa is taking a battering. as people celebrate the military takeover in gabon, many on the continent are wondering, where's next? will ross, bbc news. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news: the mother of the president of spain's football federation has been hospitalised on the third day of a hunger strike. angeles bejar locked herself in a church earlier this week to protest accusations against her son, luis rubiales. he is facing calls to resign after he kissed a player on the lips at the women's world cup. the uk foreign secretary has defended talks with officials in china, telling the bbc it wouldn't be credible to disengage. james cleverly is the first senior member of britain's government to visit beijing in more than five years. he insists that a pragmatic relationship with the country is necessary to tackle global issues like climate change. ajudge in the us has ruled that burger king must face a lawsuit over the size of its whopper burger. the suit accuses the fast food giant of misleading customers by making the whopper look 35—percent larger than it really is. burger king argues it's not required to deliver burgers that look "exactly like the picture". you're live with bbc news. there are new health concerns for the us senate's top republican, mitch mcconnell. he froze while answering a reporter's question during a news conference in covington, kentucky. here's the moment. running for real election in 2026? _ running for real election in 2026? , a, 2026? did you hear the question. _ 2026? did you hear the question, senator, - 2026? did you hear the . question, senator, running 2026? did you hear the - question, senator, running for re-election_ question, senator, running for re-eleciion in— question, senator, running for re—election in 2026? - question, senator, running for re—election in 2026? aright, l question, senator, running for. re—election in 2026? aright, we are going — re—election in 2026? aright, we are going to— re—election in 2026? aright, we are going to need _ re—election in 2026? aright, we are going to need a _ re—election in 2026? aright, we are going to need a minute. - a spokesperson for mcconnell said he felt momentarily lightheaded and that he will consult a physician. a similar situation unfolded at a new conference on capitol hill injuly, when the senator froze for about forty seconds before his colleagues stepped in to help him. the war in ukraine is increasingly becoming one of remote attacks from the sky. both sides are using drones to score military points. on tuesday night russia reported that a small airport in the northwestern city of pskov had been targeted by ukrainian drones. the attack damaged two military transport planes. that was just one of many strikes on russian territory. the red dots on this map show you just how widespread the attacks have become. for its part russia is escalating its drone use too. 0vernight kyiv sustained its biggest attack since the spring. and russian soldiers are also using drones on the front lines. 0ur correspondent, quentin sommerville, and camera journalist, darren conway, have spent the last few weeks on the front lines, between kupiansk and lyman. both cities were occupied by the russians until ukrainian troops won them back. now russia is trying to reclaim the land, with the help of so—called kamikaze drones. the battle on ukraine's eastern front has reawakened. it's in these fields and trenches that the conflict now burns at its hottest, ukraine says. there's been a lot of russian activity in this area over the past couple of days. in fact, there were air strikes on the village just behind me. so we're now having to move before dawn to get to the trenches. south of kupiansk, they cast russian forces out of here almost a year ago, but their enemy is threatening to return. beyond these fields, russia has advanced in recent weeks. the men of the 68th jager brigade, newly installed, are here to ensure that they go no further. they are up against infantry and artillery attacks daily along these lines. you can see here, that's outgoing artillery. along the front, it's said some 100,000 russian troops have gathered in newly—formed battle groups. some, beyond this tree line. now, if you look all around here, there's been incoming fire here. there's lots of damage. so there's plenty of trench positions to take cover in. it's easy to forget — with so much focus on the counter—offensive in the south of ukraine — that there are vicious battles going on here in the east and the north. in the south, they're making progress, bit by bit. but here in the east, it's russia that's advancing. this is a war on many fronts, and it's straining russia's resources, but it's also straining ukraine's, too. so in the south and the east, the demands on ukrainian forces are rising. this is front line, front line. i cannot go. andriy�*s taking us forward. but a russian drone spotted his vehicle before we took cover. explosion "we must go," he says, "get in the car!" a dozen shells land in as many minutes. come on, we need to get it together, come on. we first met andriy injune, when he was fighting in the southern counter—offensive around velyka novosilka. "this eastern front is far deadlier," he says. translation: velyka novosilka was less dangerous. _ there were far fewer soldiers there than there are here. and they have more weapons here, more of everything. that's why it's more dangerous here. its gains are modest, but from kupiansk to lyman, further south, russia is resurgent. and in the serebryans'kyy forest, it's especially fierce. we're heading deep into this forest. there's been a lot of fighting here. this is artillery strike this morning, maybe a couple of hours ago. can you see, it is still burning? all this road is shelled by drones and missile systems. can you see it? no tops of the trees. the men compare the artillery barrages to the first world war�*s verdun. but there is a new lethal threat to contend with here. kamikaze drones. explosion the gunner has fallen inside. he's unhurt, he signals. that was a drone attack against our car. that was a drone, russian drone. so they saw us, they send a 50—metre drone, and now they are seeking us and hunting us, so we need to go faster. they're just a couple of hundred metres from our position. the drones work in pairs, a surveillance drone is still up above, so they get off the road. so we've had to stop going forward because the danger here is the deeper you get into the forest, cover doesn't get better. there's constant russian artillery, setting some of the trees on fire, and it's turning these areas into wide—open areas, very exposed. there's no tree cover here, so we've had to come off the road. there are drones up above, and we just saw what they can do. the humvee's thick armour and the driver's quick thinking means that everybody inside was unhurt. but of course, civilians along these re—ignited front lines have no such protection. young and old, villagers around kupiansk are being evacuated from their homes. they are now in range of russian guns, and russia doesn't discriminate. last year, they endured six months of occupation here. they refuse to again. once more on the eastern front, the advance of russian guns is casting ukrainian families apart. viktor gives his family a final hug before they separate. sophia is just five months old — too precious to remain in harm's way. why are you leaving? translation: because it's very scary to live here. - i want to safeguard my children. it's very scary not knowing if the shelling will hit or not, if we will survive or not. viktor hoped that he was done with goodbyes... ..but as russia advances, he's once again left praying that he'll see his family again. quentin somerville, bbc news, kupiansk. powerful reporting there from our team on the ground in ukraine. now, before we go, much of hollywood is on strike, but at the 80th venice film festival, the show must go on. the oldest film festival in the world got under way on wednesday night. the opening film was meant to be challengers, a tennis romance, starring actress zendaya. but it was replaced at the last minute because the film's actors and writers are not allowed to participate in any publicity due to ongoing actors and writers strikes. instead, comandante, an italian war drama, got top billing. the strikes also means that red carpet watchers mostly have to make do with glimpses of directors and producers, who did their best to make up for the missing star power. thank you for watching. i'm caitriona perry and i'll be back at the top of the hour. stay with us here on bbc news take care. hello. for those of you that enjoy a big moon, there's a real treat outside at the moment — a super blue moon. what's one of those? well, the "super" bit is when the moon's closest to the earth for the year, and the "blue" bit is the second full moon of the month — so a super blue moon. and this is how sam's house spotted the rising moon here in derbyshire, just over the last few hours. now, looking at the weather picture at the moment, we do have some thicker cloud out to the west. that's going to rather spoil the sight of the moon. but across the eastern side of the country, we've got the clearest of the skies. now through the day on thursday, we do have some rain that's going to be spreading in from the west, and that will start to make inroads towards south—west wales and south—west england over the next few hours. as that arrives, so will quite mild air. so 14 degrees in plymouth as we start the day on thursday. cooler across the north and east of the country. so north—east, south—west split with the weather for thursday, lovely start to the day for scotland, across much of northern england. bright with hazy sunshine for east anglia. but across western areas we've got the rain moving in, and some of the rain will be quite heavy across southern areas of wales, southern areas of england. otherwise it's probably going to come through quite light and patchy, really. top temperatures around about 18—20 degrees for many areas. now on into friday's forecast, the remnants of that area of low pressure still with us. and really it's a day of sunny spells and a few showers. probably the cloudiest zone of weather will be across northern england, north wales, the north midlands and northern ireland, where there'll be a few patches of rain. one to two showers elsewhere. temperatures, again, high teens to low 20s. but as we head into the weekend, we've got a real change in the weather patterns. an area of high pressure is set to move in across the uk. we're not seeing too many of those over the last couple of months, i can tell you. now saturday morning there might be a few mist and fog patches first thing, but otherwise it's a fine—looking day. lots of sunshine to look forward to, with just a little bit of fair weather cloud popping up for a time. temperatures rising across the board pretty much into the low twenties. 23 towards south—east england. and that is going to feel warm in the september sunshine. and we've got more of that to come through sunday, and deep into the new week as well. so quite a long spell of dry and sunny weather finally looks set to arrive. bye for now. china's property crisis continues. we look at some of the reasons why the world's second biggest economy might be losing steam. investors cheer as new figures show the us economy may have avoided a recession. hi there. welcome to asia business report with me, mariko 0i. let's begin in china where we've been talking about the property sector crisis that is weighing on its economy. one of the country's biggest developers, country garden, has said it has lost $6.7 billion for the first six months of this year, adding to worries of a potentially disastrous default. it's the latest sign that the world's second biggest economy is struggling to gain traction after lifting strict covid—i9 restrictions. 0ur asia business correspondent, nick marsh, has the details. it practically rolls off the tongue by now. slow growth, record youth unemployment, weak exports, record property sector in crisis. china was supposed to be roaring back after three years of zero—covid. actually, it is doing the opposite. let's take a look at what's happening and how serious