Message to columbia, unite around the historic peace deal with farc rebels and heal your country. Brent im brent goff. It is good to have you with us. Tonight, the atlantics most powerful hurricane ever recorded is moving with deadly force through the caribbean, decimating entire islands in its wake. Now it is moving northwest toward the United States. At least 10 people have been killed. And in the u. S. State of florida, tens of thousands of people are evacuating. Irma is expected to make landfall this weekend, but there was no escape for isolated communities on islands like st. Maarten and barbuda. Correspondent the fiercest storm on record has brought near total devastation on barbuda. Almost every home on this tiny island has been damaged or destroyed. We just did a flyover and i have to tell you my heart sunk. This has been one of the worst days of my life. So i know how you must feel. The entire country has been decimated. Ive never seen anything like this before. Correspondent it is a similar picture in neighboring st. Maarten, with no electricity and the airport and seaport closed. Authorities say that the dutch territory is pretty much unreachable. But the netherlands is trying to send help. We have airplanes with food and water for the next five days, and supplies that will go that way today. So we are doing everything we can to give first aid and help in supporting the situation. Correspondent with wind 300 kilometers per hour, this is the most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the atlantic. It is heading to the u. S. And is expected to hit florida over the weekend. Mandatory evacuations are underway. Every floridian should take this seriously and be aggressive to protect their family. Possessions can be replaced, your family cannot. This is serious and we cannot take chances. It is lifethreatening. This is not a storm you can sit and wait through. Correspondent as irma goes westward on a path of destruction forecasters warn it , is being followed by jose, a Tropical Storm that has strengthened into a hurricane. Brent the ambassador from Antigua And Barbuda to the United States joins me now, sir Ronald Sanders is in washington dc tonight. Ambassador, welcome. Welcome to the program. Our condolences to you and your country after a horrible devastation. What can you tell us about the situation tonight on the island of barbuda . Guest before i get into barbuda, i should tell you that the country is called Antigua And Barbuda, it is to separate islands. They are divided by 39 miles of the caribbean sea. Now Hurricane Irma hit barbuda directly. And take a only and antigua only had the outer bands of the hurricane. This is significant, the distance of 39 miles made the difference between devastation on bermuda and little damage on antigua. Antigua, which is the main country, where the Huge Population lives in which is the tourist resorts, remains open for business. There is nothing wrong with antigua. Barbuda however got the full brunt of the eye. 1500 people live on the island. As the reporter said earlier, 95 of the properties on the island have been decimated. So to have been the four straight on the island forestry on the island. It is a difficult situation. My government made the decision today to evacuate on a voluntary basis those people who are on barbuda that wish to come to antigua. The reason for that is, in the wake of Hurricane Irma is another hurricane, which is due to into the Leeward Islands on saturday. If that hurricane, which is called jose, remains on the same track as Hurricane Irma, then it will be going for barbuda again. To avoid those people going through the trouble of that experience once more, we are evacuating them to the island of antigua. Hopefully, this is a big hope, hurricane jose will go north and avoid barbuda this time. Brent ambassador, talk to me about what resources your government has to draw upon to help with the recovery and rebuilding. Guest this is a very good question. We have no resources upon which to draw, save our own. And we are a small country, our gdp is about 1 billion a year. So hurricanes of this nature, it could it has done vast damage to a lot of the islands. Fortunately, not the large island, not the more productive island, but nonetheless repairs will have to be done. We estimate those repairs now in the tune of 200 million. Venezuela has come for to be helpful. I have to say that that government has offered us medical teams, 20 doctors and nurses going in today, along with medical equipment of various kinds, and they are leaving to military aircraft at our disposal, so that we can buy other materials we may need from other neighboring countries. Brent ambassador sir Ronald Sanders, talking with us tonight from washington dc. Thank you, we appreciate your time. Here with me at the big table is our professor with the department of geosciences at Berlins Free University and he is an expert on extreme weather. Good to have you on the program. There is some as extreme weather going on right now. We have the three hurricanes in the atlantic. When does the extreme begin to become the normal, in terms of whether . Weather . I would say it will not become the normal because it hits different places, usually. In this situation we may have a situation where two hurricanes hit the same area, which is even worse, but normally you would have the extme setting up a different places and still then people are not well prepared. So there is and will remain a risk. Brent how unusual is it to have these three storms, three hurricanes at the same time in the atlantic . How often do we see that . Guest we see that in hurricane seasons where there is a very high number. That is part of it, the statistics. Part of it is also that the mechanisms producing these hurricanes are favorable for their production. There is another thing. Which really surprised me now, usually when you have a strong hurricane it mixes the water beneath and in the chapters of the water goes down and the temperatures of the water goes down. We are not seeing that as much as i expect. Brent why is the temperature not going down . Is a Climate Change . Is that the connection . Guest the temperatures are not just high at the surface, but in a deep layer in the ocean. This produces high temperatures even after the hurricanes, so the next one can draw from those high temperatures again. Brent what happens if irma goes straight into miami beach in florida . We are looking at a long stretch of beach with highrises, densely populated areas. The people will be gone, but you have the infrastructure and no protection from the elements. Have we ever seen this kind of catastrophe before . What does it tell us about how we are living with the weather . Guest when you talk to people who are organizing insurance, they tell you that this is the worst situation that you can have. It is always the thing that they have feared since they have tried to find out how large the probability is for such an event. Actually, we did have pretty recently the cases of harvey. And a long time ago we had the case of new orleans. Certainly, you had a special factors that led it to a more devastating situation, but you would have all these elements that are brought by your hurricane. You have extremely strong winds that even in europe when you have strong winds, not like that strength. You have strong rain and flooding with the sea surface rising and washing in. Brent this hurricane season, what we are seeing happen right now, do you think that we are looking at an anomaly, or do you think this is the trend that we will have to learn to live with . Guest both. We have had a forecast for the season that was more likely with more strong storms than usual. And what we have learned from the climate models is that strong storms, not the weaker ones, but the strong hurricanes might become more frequent. Brent ok, professor. We appreciate your insight. The British Government has put a bill before parliament which it hopes will grant it wideranging powers to repeal European Union law. Critics of the bill say it is nothing short of a power grab by theresa mays government. Now in theory, the bill would automatically transpose eu laws on to britains statute books. But it could also allow the government to remove protections on everything from the environment to workers rights, without consent from parliament. Correspondent is Great Britain staring the past in the face . These protesters say that the brexit repeal bill gives the government absolute power to shape britain as it sees fit. They worry it is a throwback to the times of henry viii. The second reading correspondent the brexit minister disagrees, he says it ensures the stability of the legal system up until the day that their membership in the European Union ends. It does ensure on the day we leave, businesses know where they stand. Workers rights are upheld, and consumers remain protected. This bill is vital to ensuring that as we leave, we do so in an orderly manner. Correspondent the bill that repeals the eu membership also converts about 12,000 eu regulations to british law. The opposition says this amounts to a power grab. Combined effect of the provision for the bill would reduce mps to spectators as power goes into the hands of ministers and executives. Correspondent the proposed legislation has riled those in brussels, who rejected a paper from london that sets out a post brexit scenario for the border between ireland and northern ireland. The u. K. Wants to use ireland as a kind of test case for the future euu. K. Relations. This will not happen. Correspondent it is a sensitive issue, because the post Brexit Border will become an external boundary of the European Union. That could set back years of peace building and stability between the british province and the irish republic. He says it is on the u. K. To provide a solution for a hard border. Brent the poor and the foreignpolicy chief of the European Union, federico mogherini, wants more sanctions against north korea following the most recent nuclear test. The European Union ministers have been meeting in the estonian capital tallinn, while defense ministers finish their meeting, other ministers continue the talks on friday. Also on the agenda, the germans call for an end to eu session talks with turkey. Dws Barbara Wesel is in tallinn to cover the talks. She sends in this about the biggest issues. Barbara we cannot let increasing provocation by north korea go unanswered. Eu Foreign Ministers not only want to support upcoming further sanctions by the united nations, they even want to top them up on their own. Germany for instance talks about north korean ships that could be blocked from harbors in europe, and workers that could be sent home. It is clear measures like these are like the bike of the bite of the mosquito, real leverage is aging. Still, the eu looks for a role in the crisis, be it as a moderating voice are even a at a future negotiating table. No unity on the other hand exists on the contentious issue of secession talks with turkey. In particular there is no joy , for germany that saw a shift of opinion during the election debates. A number of smaller countries came out in favor of leaving talks frozen, but open. Breaking them off would play into the hands of erdogan, and be counterproductive. What clinched the point was an intervention by the french president macron. , he stressed that the dismal human rights, a record of turkey notwithstanding, the country would remain an important partner in Many International crisis. Brent that was Barbara Wesel reporting. You are watching dw news. Still ahead, the pope calling on columbia to come together in the wake of a peace deal with farc rebels. We have been talking about Climate Change, the world bank is sounding the alarm over the cost of Climate Change. Correspondent that is right. And they are especially worried about one of the most beautiful parts of the world, the Pacific Islands which cannot tackle Climate Change alone. That is where it is going to hit the hardest. Those tiny countries will need International Aid in a big way. Leaders have been meeting to discuss ways of keeping communities of floats afloat. This little spec is one of the many places that could go under. Correspondent the small island nation of care abbas could be one of the first to disappear from the map. The World Bank Reports says even in the best Case Scenario with oceans rising 40 centimeters by the end of the century, it poses economic problems for the Pacific Islands. Building seawalls to protect the coastlines will take major investment, which these countries cannot afford. Many residents have already had to flee the outlying islands. Now they live in cramped accommodations on the main island, under the most. Basic conditions. Here Climate Change is already having an impact. The groundwater has become contaminated by saltwater because of the rising sea levels. That in turn has had a negative impact on the harvest. Fish stocks are depleted and the number of storms have increased. We used to have good weather four months straight. Now it is completely unpredictable. The weather is changing so much faster than expected. The seas are so rough we are not able to fish in them anymore. Correspondent although Climate Change threatens the existence of the islands, the world bank is calling for more investment here. More tourism would bring in money and jobs, expanding the internet coverage could attract call centers. The report from the World Bank Makes it clear, without International Help these Pacific Island nations do not stand a chance. Correspondent they say no news is good news, but with Monetary Policy the eurozone watchers are not convinced. The bank keeping the rate right where it is at 0 . 60 billion a month bound bond program will continue into december. At a time when growth is picking up, analysts are asking why the boss of the bank my mario draghi, is dragging his feet. Correspondent once again all eyes on mario draghi. The European Central bank chief is known for his caution. Analysts had been expecting him to keep the edges rates at a historic low, but they have not counted on the possibility of an expansion of the massive bond buying program. If the outlook becomes less favorable, or if conditions become inconsistent with further progress toward the sustained adjustment in the path of inflation, we stand ready to increase our Asset Purchase Program in terms of size and duration. Correspondent inflation is the keyword. At one point, 5 , it is still short of the 2 goal. That is despite years of loose Monetary Policy introduced in response to the financial crisis in 2008. There are not only clouds on the horizon. The measures have had some success. The eurozone economy grew in the last quarter, prompting the central bank to raise the growth forecast for this year to 2. 2 . Correspondent and a message of peace from the pontiff aimed at his own home region of latin america. Brent that is right. Pope francis has urged colombians to heal the rifts left by decades of civil war. The pontiff was speaking in bogota at the start of a fiveday visit to the country. His message comes as a peace treaty between the government and farc rebels begins to take hold. Correspondent blessings from the pontiff at the main cathedral in bogota. Accompanied by president santos and his wife, he kicked off his fiveday trip. The focus for the visit, reconciliation. Columbia has been affected by a long civil war. Correspondent the pope asked colombians to make peace a longterm commitment. The more demanding the path toward peace and understanding is, the greater our efforts to it knowledge each other be. To heal wounds, to build bridges, to strength and relationships and support one another. Correspondent the Armed Conflict in colombia broke out in 1964, when the military attacked farmers who had staged a revolt. Guerrillas went underground and established armed forces of colombia, the farc, two years later. Through kidnapping ransoms and cocaine trafficking, the guerrillas were able to finance their warfare to fight the government and big landowners. In september last year, after four years of negotiations, farc guerrillas said they were ready to stop fighting and sign a Peace Agreement with the colombian government. Ending the civil war that claimed about a quarter million lives. Now the group is trying to insert influence in an alternative way, by working as a new political party. Many colombians are not happy that the farc leaders accused of crimes may receive Congress Seats rather than jail sentences. But the pope urges the people to let go of the resentment. He says the focus should be on resolving the entrenched inequality that led to the rebellion. We need laws that can guarantee harmony and help overcome the conflicts that have gripped this country for decades. Let us not forget that inequality is the root of social ills. Correspondent the popes visit is the first papal trip to the country since 1986. He is said to visit other cities in colombia, before leaving for rome on sunday. Brent Spains Constitutional Court has suspended a law a day after it was