Necker Island (British Virgin Islands) would survive their castaway adventure for at least three weeks, but as McCullin later recounted, "because of our gathering weakness ... out of temper, and out of water, we hoisted the red flag and were taken off in the early hours of the fifteenth day". According to McCullin, there was nothing idyllic about the desert island: "The mosquitos and other insects were more venomous and persistent than any I had encountered in Vietnam or the Congo." Richard Branson's "Extreme Tech Challenge" has been hosted annually at Necker Island since 2015. Described as one of the largest technology competitions in the
Necker Island (British Virgin Islands) caused by lightning from Tropical Storm Irene. At the time the house was occupied by as many as twenty guests, with Branson himself staying in a residence nearby. All of the guests escaped unhurt from the burning house, which was totally destroyed. Among the twenty occupants were actress Kate Winslet, Branson's 90-year-old mother Eve and his 29-year-old daughter Holly. The Great House was subsequently rebuilt with an expanded Great Room. On September 6, 2017, Hurricane Irma, a category 5 hurricane, made landfall on Necker Island destroying most of the island. Branson was quoted as saying "I have never seen anything