Lower Islands News Today

Really, hurricane dorian is quite a ways away. the full power of this storm will not be felt until saturday into sunday, when the storm could come through here where i am as a powerful category 3 or 4 storm. and that will have a destructive impact on some of the low-lying islands. here where i am, where people are actually being evacuated from lower islands. the highest point of land is about 30 feet high. so when you think of the storm surge that could be caused from this very powerful hurrican...

Bahamas. the hurricane warning for that region has been issued and the prime minister is telling people in the affected areas to leave immediately. cnns patrick oppmann is in freeport. >> reporter: here in the northwest bahamas weve been feeling the wind pick up throughout the day. weve seen some of the first rain bands coming through. but really hurricane dorian is still quite a ways away and the full power of the storm will not be felt until saturday and into sunday when this storm could come ...

Get to almost the middle of that northern coast of puerto rico, right between the u and the e right there in the labeling. and then its supposed to pull a little bit to the north. now, we have pretty good confidence that that is going to put it out of the tough side of the dominican republic and haiti. however, the problem with dominican republic and haiti with flooding is rainfall. and this storm will still have plenty of rainfall when the eye leaves puerto rico and even though the eye is not e...

With such widespread damage below, some of the keys are only accessible by air. there is so much debris in the ocean, even reaching this location by boat can be dangerous. >> reporter: tonight the national guard deploying search-and-rescue missions into the keys. local officials say a humanitarian crisis is looming in the lower islands. big pine and cujo keys among those hardest hit. no water, no power, no phones. >> they need fresh water. they need gas. mostly they just need manpower to get cle...

Humanitarian crisis is looming in the lower islands. big pine and cujo keys among those hardest hit. no water, no power, no phones. >> they need fresh water. they need gas. mostly they just need manpower to get clear passage through their yards. >> reporter: its not just homes damaged across the keys. so is vital infrastructure, roads and bridges. repairs could take weeks, even months. irma hitting with fury. and now its left a sea of destruction. >> that was nbc national correspondent miguel al...

Packing 130-mile-per-hour winds, waves up to 15 feet high. with such widespread damage below, some of the keys are only accessible by air. theres so much debris in the ocean, reaching this location by boat would be dangerous. >> reporter: the national guard, deploying search and rescue missions into the keys. local officials say a humanitarian crisis is looming in the lower islands. big pine keys among those hardest hit. >> they need fresh water. they need gas. mostly, they need manpower to get ...

Poles. every once in awhile a huge wave will cover the poles up altogether. were concerned about some overwash on some of those lower islands. thats what storm surge looks like. that should be a beach. its not. >> its not. okay. chad myers thanks so much. with me on the phone right now is the st. augustine mayor nancy schaefer. welcome back. oh -- >> while im talking to you i want you to know were awaiting a press conference from your governor rick scott. thats expected to take place at any mome...