Luxury Caribbean homes of Hollywood A-listers are next on Irma’s hit list as she marches toward the US east coast – leaving Trump’s estate and Richard Branson’s mansion in ruins behind her
The insured damage caused by hurricanes Harvey and Irma is expected to be $50bn (£38bn) to $70bn, according to the boss of a Lloyd’s of London insurer.
Bronek Masojada, chief executive of Hiscox, said insured losses for Harvey, which resulted in widespread flood damage, were running at $20-$30bn while the cost of Irma was expected to be $30bn-$40bn. Masojada was using estimates from the risk modelling firm AIR Worldwide. A rival risk analysis firm, RMS, estimated insured losses from Harvey could be up to $35bn, which would take the total to $75bn.
Economic cost of Hurricane Irma ‘could reach $300bn’ The insurer said the claims would make 2017 one of the worst years for natural disasters with the hurricane season not yet over.
Hurricane Irma, the most powerful storm ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean with 185 mph wind is the size of France! Evacuations were set to take place in the Caribbean and the Florida Keys.
Hurricane Irma left a trail of destruction in its wake as it tore over the Caribbean, with lots of lives, jobs, homes and properties lost. Nearly all of Florida was engulfed by the 400-mile-wide (645-kilometer) storm, but the Keys – which is home to about 70,000 people – seemed to be hit the hardest with 90 per cent of homes destroyed or damaged. Officials had previously warned people to seek protection in an official statement that ended with, “May God protect us all”.
Many celebrities chose the Bahamas and the Caribbean for the sites of their lavish homes and resorts. A number of celebrities with homes in the Carribean and its environs who got their homes destroyed include Unites States President Donald Trump, Chelsea Football Club Owner Roman Abrahamovic, and Virgin boss Richard Branson.
Branson’s Necker Island unfortunately suffered Irma’s full force and the billionaire has since reported widespread damage to the island. He waited out Hurricane Irma in a wine cellar which was in one of the properties on the island. Brandon said he had never seen anything like Irma.
He lamented that Necker and the whole area have been “completely and utterly devastated”. He said, the damage is still being assessed, but whole houses and trees have disappeared. Outside the bunker, bathroom and bedroom doors and windows have been flung over 40 feet away”.
President Trump’s Caribbean estate is believed to have been wrecked in Hurricane Irma. The French officials who are in control of the side of the island where the president’s property is situated said the property “suffered serious damage” but did not further disclose the condition of Trump’s estate.
Chelsea proprietor has property in Saint Barts which has probably been shattered in the hurricane. His house on the island, which was hit so cruelly the storm that plants were ripped from the ground by their roots and houses bowed to Irma and have been reduced to rubble.
Many other celebrities including Bruce Willis, Johnny Depp, and Eddie Murphy own homes and private islands in the Bahamas which were in the eye of Irma.
The 1901 two-story Greek Revival home of late author and poet Shel Silverstein on William Street was also severely damaged by large ficus tree that was uprooted in Key West. Pippa Middleton’s in-laws own property on Irma-hit St. Barts. An A-list favorite, the Eden Rock Hotel, was wrecked by the Category 5 Storm. Oprah Winfrey also had property in Antigua, which was destroyed by the storm.
These damages could prove to be very costly for those affected. House renovation costs, water damage repair costs, and costs to repair any other type of damage will indeed be very high. The smart ones would have of course gotten house insurance to insure themselves against losses like this before hand.