Robert De Niro has vowed to help rebuild the tiny Caribbean island of Barbuda after it was rendered “barely habitable” by Hurricane Irma.
The Oscar winner is opening a luxury resort on the island, and said he’d work with local officials and the community to rebuild “what nature has taken away from us,” Deadline.com reported.
On Wednesday, Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne said 90 percent of structures on the island, which is home to about 1,700 people, had been destroyed by the monstrous Category 5 hurricane.
“What I saw was heart-wrenching — I mean, absolutely devastating,” he told Antigua/Barbuda Broadcasting Services.
De Niro and billionaire James Packer bought the former K Club Resort on Barbuda last year and are in the process of renovating it. They’ve renamed it the Paradise Found Nobu Resort.
“We are beyond saddened to learn of the devastation in Barbuda caused from Hurricane Irma,” the star said in a statement.