Living in the British Virgin Islands, the 67-year-old business magnate first shared his plans for Hurricane Irma on Tuesday, when Irma was upgraded from a Category 4 storm.
"We had some lovely guests staying on Necker Island who have cut their trip short for safety reasons," Branson wrote on his blog. "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."
The following day, just hours before Irma was scheduled to close in on the private island, Branson published another blog post with a few details on how he was planning to hide away from Irma's 185mph winds.
— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) September 6, 2017
"We are expecting the full force of the hurricane in around five hours' time," Branson wrote Wednesday. "We will retreat to a concrete wine cellar under the Great House."
With the Virgin founder braving the storm alongside friends, he went on to note how he and his "great group of young people" played games and wound up sleeping in two rooms on the eve of Irma's landfall.
— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) September 6, 2017
"I haven't had a sleepover quite like it since I was a kid," Branson wrote.
Describing the eve of the storm as "a night of howling wind and rain," the atmosphere wasn't all frightening for the self-proclaimed tie-loathing adventurer; in fact, it was "beautiful."
"We were listening to the parrots in their boxes in the next room chattering away [and] watching the tortoises congregating together, as if they sense what is coming our way," Branson added.
Aside from offering an update on his then-current status, Branson suggested in his posts that the severity of hurricanes like Harvey are a result of climate change, which is an issue that should be handled, not denied.
"The damage caused by Harvey all over Texas is a tragic and costly reminder that our climate is changing and that we are not doing enough to tackle this enormous challenge."
Annick Girardin, French minister for overseas affairs, revealed that Hurricane Irma had killed two and injured two more after tearing through the French islands of St. Barts and St. Martin Wednesday, adding things "could quickly change," France 24 reported. Another person is reported to have been killed when the storm passed over Barbuda, damaging 90 percent of the island's buildings, according to its prime minister.
