Kenny Chesney loses home to Hurricane Irma, launches foundation to help survivors
— -- Kenny Chesney said he has lost his home on St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands to the devastation from Hurricane Irma.
While the country singer wasn't in the area when the storm took place, he told HLN's Morning Express with Robin Meade that the destruction in the Virgin Islands is "biblical in nature."
"It’s just simply gone," Chesney said of his property. "That place and the people mean so much more to me than my house . . . it’s just devastation. It’s really odd to see such a beautiful place look like a war zone."
Upon learning of the devastation in the Virgin Islands, Chesney, 49, created a foundation to help those who lost everything during the hurricane. The singer launched his Love for Love City Foundation over the weekend and has urged fans to donate money to it through his website. He does not specify what the funds will be used for at this time saying, "Give us a few days to figure this out."
"Pray/send good thoughts to everyone who’s been affected or is in the path of Hurricane Irma," he wrote on his website. "This is unlike anything they’ve ever seen from St Maartens to St Barths to Puerto Rico then the Caribbean and onto Key West."
The singer said he is currently in the studio recording music he intends to use to raise funds for the Virgin Islands.
Virgin CEO Richard Branson, whose private Caribbean island was also damaged by the storm, is also giving back to his community both personally and through his Virgin Unite charity. On Monday, Branson announced on the Virgin website that tomorrow he and his team will distribute supplies to those who need it most in conjunction with the local authorities. Virgin Atlantic has also arranged for relief flights to the British Virgin Islands and Antigua, he added.
"It’s been truly heartwarming to witness the global outpouring of support for the communities across the Caribbean that have been hit hardest by Hurricane Irma. We’ve received hundreds of emails from people across the world who share our love of the BVI and its wonderful people and who are willing to make their resources available to help in whichever way they can," he wrote. "The challenge in disaster situations is always to make sure that offers of support meet the real needs on the ground, and our teams are working hard to support the BVI and UK governments in assessing what is needed the most and mobilising [sic] the resources at our disposal. It is a lengthy undertaking, given the extent of devastation on the ground, but I’m hopeful that we’ll soon gave a better picture of the situation, so that we can channel the fantastic goodwill we encounter in the most effective way."
