Richard Branson Is Already Working to Rebuild Devastated Caribbean Islands

After bunkering in his private Necker Island, part of the British Virgin Islands, during Hurricane Irma, Richard Branson has relocated to Puerto Rico to mobilize relief efforts for his neighbors and staff in the BVI, which the then-Category Five hurricane's eye wall hit directly. In a post on the Virgin blog, Branson urged Brits and Virgin flyers alike to help those in the Caribbean, and his foundation, Virgin Unite, is working with Unite BVI and Virgin Limited Edition to support communities on Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada, and Jost Van Dyke (donations here). The airline magnate also shared photos of the damage on Necker Island and neighboring Virgin Gorda on his Instagram.

Branson summarized the destruction on the Virgin blog, but offered a message of hope, too. "The boats are piled up like matchsticks in the harbour. Huge cargo ships were thrown out of the water and into rocks. Resorts have been decimated. The houses have their roofs blown off; even some churches where people sheltered have lost roofs. But the whole British Virgin Islands community is rallying round," he said.

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9/06/17: Richard Branson—the eccentric British billionaire—is riding out Hurricane Irma until the very end, even though the storm ranks as one of the strongest ever on record.

Branson refuses to leave Necker Island to seek shelter elsewhere, despite the fact his private island in the British Virgin Islands will likely take a catastrophic hit from Category 5 storm. Chances are, you've heard about Necker Island before, particularly when former President Barack Obama went kitesurfing earlier this year with the Virgin mogul. As for why he's staying put, Branson reasons that his home in Necker is well equipped to deal with what's about to come.

"We have constructed really strong buildings (with hurricane blinds) that should be able to handle extreme weather pretty well, though with a Category 5 hurricane almost nothing can withstand it," he said in a statement obtained by Mashable. "We had some lovely guests staying on Necker Island who have cut their trip short for safety reasons, and another group of guests have also postponed. I will be on Necker alongside our team, as I have been on the three times we have had hurricanes over the past 30 years."

With Irma beginning to blow through Necker, Branson opted for an additional post on his website, where he cheerfully updated readers on his situation. When the storm hit, he and his guests were retreating to his underground wine cellar for maximum safety. "Knowing our wonderful team as I do, I suspect there will be little wine left in the cellar when we all emerge," he wrote, painting a picture of pre-storm revelry. "We were listening to the parrots in their boxes in the next room chattering away. Watching the tortoises congregating together, as if they sense what is coming our way. . .I haven't had a sleepover quite like it since I was a kid."

That swashbuckling attitude explains how Branson got to where he is in life, but for anyone else in the hurricane's path who isn't a billionaire with a private bunker, taking the proper precautions and evacuating is certainly a wiser tack—even if that means leaving the wine behind.