Buildings swept away on Branson’s paradise island
Tycoon emerges from concrete wine cellar to ‘complete and utter’ devastation on Necker
SIR RICHARD BRANSON has said that his private Caribbean island, Necker, has been “completely and utterly devastated” by Hurricane Irma.
The British billionaire said that his team on the island were all safe, having hidden in a concrete cellar, but that buildings and trees on the island had been swept away.
“It is a traumatic time here in the British Virgin Islands,” Sir Richard said via satellite phone for a blog post on his Virgin website. “I have never seen anything like this hurricane.
“All of the team who stayed on Necker and Moskito during the hurricane are safe and well. We took shelter from the strongest hurricane ever inside the concrete cellar on Necker and very, very fortunately it held firm. Our thoughts go out to everyone affected by the disaster elsewhere in the BVI, Caribbean and beyond.”
The head of the Virgin Group advised anyone in the path of the storm to prepare for the worst and seek shelter, with supplies, water and emergency contact plans.
The British Virgin Islands governor Gus Jaspert last night declared a state of emergency.
“Could any public service organisation or anyone with a truck that could offer assistance and have not made contact with the (National Emergency Operations Centre), do so now,” he said.
Sir Richard said Virgin Atlantic’s Antigua flight yesterday had been loaded with essential items to help the recovery effort, including blankets and bottled water. He also tweeted that Virgin had donated to the British Red Cross and that he was waiting on more information about how else to support victims of the hurricane.
“I know we are fortunate here on Necker and Moskito. Our wonderful team are fine. I know we will all band together and rebuild the islands to become stronger and even more wonderful than they were before,” he wrote in the blog post.
Sir Richard’s son, Sam, was also on Necker. He wrote on Instagram: “Very concerned for our friends and everyone on the neighbouring islands and people in its path. Please don’t take this hurricane lightly if it is heading your way. If your building is not very solid, do find somewhere safe! Homes can be rebuilt but lives can’t.”
Before the hurricane’s arrival, Sir Richard described how the “howling wind and rain” had created an “eerie but beautiful” atmosphere as they waited for Irma to hit. He revealed that those left on the island would be camping out in the concrete wine cellar in his house.
Necker is also home to a number of animals, including more than 80 lemurs, hundreds of flamingos, red foot tortoises, exotic birds and rare Anegada iguanas. It is unclear what exactly Branson did with the collection of animals during the storm, but they are “safe”, a Necker official told the TMZ website.