Richard Branson retreats to wine cellar as Hurricane Irma hits Necker Island

Billionaire Richard Branson refused to leave his Necker Island paradise home on the British Virgin Islands as Hurricane Irma thrashed the resort this week, instead deciding to ride out the storm from the confines of his concrete wine cellar.

Richard Branson on Necker Island (Credit: Virgin)

Hurricane Irma tore through much of the Caribbean on Wednesday, killing at least eight people in its wake and destroying countless homes. The storm destroyed nearly all buildings on the island of Barbuda, killing a two-year-old child as a family tried to escape, before hitting the French territories of St Martin and St Barts, leaving a further seven people dead.

Writing on his blog ahead of the category 5 storm, the most powerful ever recorded in the Atlantic, Branson wrote: “We are expecting to get the full force of the hurricane in around five hours’ time, when we will retreat to a concrete wine cellar under the Great House. Knowing our wonderful team as I do, I suspect there will be little wine left in the cellar when we all emerge.”

Branson’s entire staff camped out in two rooms under his mansion, posting photos of the team playing games and having a “sleepover”.

“The strength of this hurricane is unheard of,” Branson added. “The atmosphere is eerie but beautiful. Everyone is willing the eye of the storm to veer away from the BVI in these last few hours. Our main concern is safety, for everyone here and for all the people in the BVI and in the path of the hurricane. All of us slept together in two rooms. I haven’t had a sleepover quite like it since I was a kid.”

While Branson and his team were safe, his Necker island mansion was not so lucky, with large parts of the home completely destroyed, along with thousands of other homes throughout the region that have been obliterated by the storm.

“We are deeply saddened by the events that have taken place in the last 24 hours and our hearts and thoughts are with our friends and family in the Caribbean,” representatives of the resort stated.

“We are very grateful to be able to report that all of our team on Island have been accounted for as safe as well. Necker Island felt the effects of Hurricane Irma and sustained extensive damage, the extent of which we are still assessing. We’d like to thank all of you for your thoughts and would like to assure you that we will be keeping you along, with our family and friends, updated this week as we know more. We will do whatever we can to support and assist our local community through this extremely testing time.”

Having moved north through the Caribbean islands and Puerto Rico, Hurricane Irma is expected to hit Florida, where a state of emergency has been declared, by the weekend.

Credit: Virgin
Credit: Virgin