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Hurricane Irma: Florida launches huge relief operation


Media captionStrong winds and rain have been battering Florida
Relief operations are under way in Florida, as the extent of the damage from Hurricane Irma becomes clear.
The storm weakened as it moved up the state's western coast overnight but Miami and other urban areas have been battered and flooded.
Six million homes - 62% of the entire state - are without power. In the islands of the Florida Keys, officials have warned of a "humanitarian crisis".
Media reports link at least four deaths to the storm.
Irma, which hit Florida as a category four hurricane on Sunday, has now been downgraded to a tropical storm.
It cut a devastating track across Caribbean islands, killing at least 37 people there.
Florida Governor Rick Scott said it was "going to take some time" before people could return to their homes, the Miami Herald website reports.
Speaking as he went on an aerial tour of the Keys to survey the damage early on Monday, he said: "Power lines are down throughout the state. We've got roads that are impassable, so everybody's got to be patient as we work through this."
Before and after in MiamiImage copyrightREUTERS
Image captionBefore and after in Brickell, Miami

All eyes on the Keys

By Jane O'Brien, BBC News, Miami
Miami dodged a bullet by and large. The eye of the storm did not hit the city but it did wallop the Florida Keys, of course, and that is where the concern is now.
Communications were pretty bad even on Friday. A number of people who had fled the Keys and checked into our hotel were struggling to keep in touch with relatives who had decided to stay behind.
Reports say that 10,000 people decided to ride out the storm. We do not know what state they are in now.
The first job rescue services will have to do is to test the integrity of the 42 bridges linking the Keys. If one of those is down, it could cause problems because it could strand any one of the islands.
The entire Keys are closed. There is no way of getting in there at the moment while the authorities assess the damage.

How big will the disaster response be?

Although Miami was spared the brunt of the storm, large parts of the city are under water. Winds have snapped power lines and 72% of homes there are without electricity, officials say.
On the west coast of Florida, drone footage from Naples, a town on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico about 125 miles (200km) to the north-west, shows rows of shattered suburban homes on streets under water.
A map showing the projected path of Hurricane Irma.
President Donald Trump has released emergency federal aid for Florida, describing the hurricane as a "big monster".
Funds will be needed to care for victims, clean up debris, restore power, and repair damage to homes and businesses.
Martin Senterfitt, emergency management director for Monroe County, said a huge airborne mission was in the works, the Miami Herald reports.
"Disaster mortuary teams", he said on Sunday, would be dispatched to the Keys, which are part of Monroe.
Vehicle involved in car crash in Florida, 10 SeptemberImage copyrightREUTERS
Image captionA number of fatal car crashes in Florida are being linked to the storm

Where is the storm now?

At 12:00 GMT, the centre of the storm was about 105 miles (170km) north of Tampa, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
Before and after in Bonita Springs, FloridaImage copyrightREUTERS
Image captionBefore and after in Bonita Springs, Florida
Some three million people live in the Tampa Bay area. The region has not been hit by a major hurricane since 1921.
Irma made landfall on Marco Island off Florida's west coast at 15:35 local time (19:35 GMT) on Sunday, with winds of up to 120mph.
BBC map

How have residents felt the impact?

"We feel the building swaying all the time," restaurant owner Deme Lomas told Reuters news agency by phone from his 35th-floor apartment in Miami.
At least four deaths have been connected to the storm:
  • Two police officers died when their vehicles collided in Hardee County in central Florida
  • A person died in a single-car crash near Orlando
  • A man died in the town of Marathon in the Florida Keys when his vehicle hit a tree on Saturday
Media captionLooters caught on camera in Miami
Some 6.3 million people in the state were told to evacuate before Irma arrived.
There is major disruption to transport, with Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Miami International Airport closed for Monday.
Curfews have been imposed areas such as in Miami, where 13 people were arrested on suspicion of looting.
Media captionAmateur footage shows flooding in central Miami

Which areas were hit before Florida?

Irma is the most powerful Atlantic storm in a decade, and caused widespread destruction on several Caribbean islands:
  • Cuba: at least 10 people were killed by the storm on the island, officials say. Electricity is out across the capital, Havana
A woman tries to rescue some food from her flooded house in downtown Havana, Cuba, 10 SeptemberImage copyrightAFP
Image captionParts of the Cuban capital Havana are under water
  • St Martin and St Barthelemy: Six out of 10 homes on St Martin, an island shared between France and the Netherlands, are now uninhabitable, French officials say. They said nine people had died and seven were missing in the French territories, while four are known to have died in Dutch Sint-Maarten
  • Turks and Caicos Islands: Widespread damage, although extent unclear
  • Barbuda: The small island is said to be "barely habitable", with 95% of the buildings damaged. Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne estimates reconstruction will cost $100m (£80m). One death has been confirmed
  • Anguilla: Extensive damage with one person confirmed dead
  • Puerto Rico: More than 6,000 residents of the US territory are in shelters and many more without power. At least three people have died
  • British Virgin Islands: Widespread damage reported, and five dead
  • US Virgin Islands: Damage to infrastructure was said to be widespread, with four deaths confirmed
  • Haiti and the Dominican Republic: Both battered by the storm, but neither had as much damage as initially feared
Media captionIrma continues to affect Florida
Another hurricane, Jose, has been weakening over the western Atlantic, with swells due to affect parts of Hispaniola (the island split into Haiti and the Dominican Republic), the Bahamas, and the Turks and Caicos Islands, later this week.
Are you in the region? Are you a holidaymaker unable to get a flight home or a resident who has been preparing for Hurricane Irma? If it is safe for you to do so, share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
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New camera can see through human body

Graphic showing male digestive system illuminatedImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionThe new camera works by detecting individual photons within the human body
Scientists have developed a camera that can see through the human body.
The device has been designed to help doctors track medical tools, known as endoscopes, during internal examinations.
Until now, medics have had to rely on expensive scans, such as X-rays, to trace their progress.
The new camera works by detecting light sources inside the body, such as the illuminated tip of the endoscope's long flexible tube.
Prof Kev Dhaliwal, of the University of Edinburgh, said: "It has immense potential for diverse applications, such as the one described in this work.
"The ability to see a device's location is crucial for many applications in healthcare, as we move forwards with minimally invasive approaches to treating disease."

'Tissues and organs'

Early tests have shown the prototype device can track a point light source through 20cm of tissue under normal conditions.
Beams from the endoscope can pass through the body, but usually scatter or bounce off tissues and organs rather than travelling straight through.
That makes it problematic to get a clear picture of where the tool is.
Doctor testing light probe used for endoscopyImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionThe device has been designed to help doctors track medical tools known as endoscopes within the body
The new camera can detect individual particles, called photons, and is so sensitive it can catch tiny traces of light passing through tissue.
It can also record the time taken for light to pass through the body, meaning the device is able to work out exactly where the endoscope is.
Researchers have developed the new camera so it can be used at the patient's bedside.
The project - led by the University of Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt University - is part of the Proteus Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration, which is developing a range of new technologies for diagnosing and treating lung diseases.
Dr Michael Tanner, of Heriot-Watt University, said: "My favourite element of this work was the ability to work with clinicians to understand a practical healthcare challenge, then tailor advanced technologies and principles that would not normally make it out of a physics lab to solve real problems.
"I hope we can continue this interdisciplinary approach to make a real difference in healthcare technology."
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Trouble flares at Birmingham Prison

HMP Birmingham
Trouble broke out at HMP Birmingham after inmates refused to return to their cells.
The disorder was confined to one wing and involved a "small number of prisoners", according to the Prison Service.
It began just after 17:00 BST on Sunday and was resolved at 23:45. No staff or prisoners were injured.
The Prison Service said the incident did not pose a threat to the public.
HMP Birmingham, operated by G4S, was the scene of 12 hours of disorder in December 2016, which required riot teams to be deployed.
A G4S spokesman said trouble flared "after a group of prisoners refused to return to their cells" at the end of evening association.
He said: "Staff have successfully resolved disorder on one wing at HM Prison Birmingham.
"No staff or prisoners were injured during the incident and the rest of the establishment was unaffected."
One inmate, believed to be in his 20s, was taken to hospital for an unrelated medical matter.
HMP Birmingham is a Category B and C prison in the Winson Green area of the city. G4S took over running the jail from the Prison Service in 2011.
Are you in the area? Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
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No rate rise until 2019, economists say

Bank of EnglandImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Most economists do not expect UK interest rates to rise until 2019 despite inflation remaining above target, according to a BBC snapshot survey.
Most of those surveyed think the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will be reluctant to raise rates during Brexit negotiations.
The base rate has stood at a record low of 0.25% since August 2016.
That was the first cut since March 2009, when it was reduced to 0.5%.
Last week, one MPC member, Michael Saunders, said a "modest rise" in rates was needed to curb high inflation, which stood at 2.6% in July.
In June, three of the MPC's eight members voted for a rise - the first time since May 2011 that so many had wanted to tighten policy.
The same month the Bank's chief economist, Andy Haldane, also made a call for a rate rise this year.
However, Mark Carney, the Bank governor, said in his Mansion House speech in late June that "now is not yet the time" to start raising rates once more.
Mark CarneyImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionBank of England Governor Mark Carney has cast doubt on an imminent interest rate rise
Stuart Green, of Santander Global Corporate Banking, told the BBC he did not expect a rate hike to happen before 2019.
"We believe that policymakers will be reluctant to tighten monetary policy until greater clarity emerges around the UK's post-EU trading framework, and our expectation of declining inflation through 2018 should also reduce the pressure for an interest rate rise," he said.
Others expect it to be even longer, with economists at Morgan Stanley not expecting any movement until March 2019 at the earliest, with Andrew Goodwin at Oxford Economics suggesting it would not happen until the third quarter of that year.
Similarly, Fabrice Montagne, at Barclays, expects rates to stay on hold until "at least 2019".
But there are those who argue that the Bank will raise rates sooner. Howard Archer, chief economic adviser at the EY ITEM Club, said he had one increase, to 0.5%, pencilled in for late 2018, adding: "I would not be at all surprised if it was delayed until 2019."
Michael Lee, at Cambridge Econometrics, expects a rise to come in either the second or third quarter of next year as he thinks inflation will stay above the Bank's 2% target for the next two to three years.
Philip Rush, at Heteronomica, is more specific, settling on May 2018.
The one outlier is George Buckley at Nomura, who expects the MPC to jump in November.

Inflation

The BBC also asked the economists when they expect inflation to peak in the UK. Both Mr Rush and Mr Archer think it will hit 2.9% in October, with the latter predicting it will then start to fall back "as the impact of the sharp drop in sterling following the June 2016 Brexit vote increasingly wanes".
Several others, such as Mr Green, Mr Lee and Mr Goodwin, expect inflation to hit 3% in the final three months of the year before starting to retreat.
Morgan Stanley is more pessimistic, however, predicting a peak of 3.2% in Spring 2018.
Cash

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