Billionaire Richard Branson rides out Irma in his Necker Island wine cellar

The last time Virgin Group billionaire Sir Richard Branson was featured in the news, he was bromancing Barack Obama during the former president’s Caribbean holiday after leaving office.

Now, he is entertaining an entirely different (but arguably as destructive) visitor: Hurricane Irma.

Sir Richard Branson, the billionaire founder of the Virgin Group, said he had no plans to evacuate his home in the British Virgin Islands, which lies directly in the path of Hurricane Irma.Instead, Branson said he would hunker down with his team on Necker, his private Caribbean island, “as I have been on the three times we have had hurricanes over the past 30 years.”“On Necker Island 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,” Branson wrote in a blog post, which also implied there would be no guests at his island’s private resort when the hurricane hits. “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.”

As a safety professional, I had to say I like his emergency response supplies:

Too much wine might explain the following tweet

I encourage Branson to read my piece of the climate change fallacies associated with Harvey…which we can discuss together over a fine white vintage one day.

Unfortunately, Branson’s Necker Island home experienced heavy damage, as has much of the region that has been hit by the Category 5 hurricane.

Richard Branson’s Necker Island home has been completely destroyed by Hurricane Irma.And as of 1pm local time, his home on Necker Island was in directly in the eye of Hurricane Irma and the storm continued to batter the area for several hours.His son Sam Branson took to Instagram to tell his followers that his father and his staff were safe.

Unlike liberal haters, we at Legal Insurrection take no joy in the destruction of anyone’s home and property. We will pray that the Bransons and all others impacted by Irma continue to stay safe and recover quickly as possible.

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