Kenny Chesney's St. John House Is 'Simply Gone' After Hurricane Irma: 'A Beautiful Place Looks Like a War Zone'

Kenny Chesney‘s residence on the U.S. Virgin Island of St. John has been destroyed by Hurricane Irma.

The country singer, 49, who was not in the area at the time of the storm, described the devastation to HLN’s Morning Express with Robin Meade, calling it “biblical in nature.”

“It’s just simply gone,” Chesney said of his St. John property. “That place and the people mean so much more to me than my house.

“I’ve always felt that music was medicine,” he continued, adding that he has started a new relief foundation called Love for Love City.

“I’m gonna do everything that I possibly can to try to relieve some stress from people that I’ve really grown to love over the years, who have meant so much to my life. This place, these islands, have meant so much to me,” Chesney explained.

“They’ve shaped me as a human being. It’s given me creativity. It’s given me a different way to look at the world, a different window to see the world through. And when you look through that window right now, as you can tell, it’s just devastation. It’s really odd to see such a beautiful place look like a war zone.”

In addition to living in Nashville, Chesney has long owned homes in St. John.

On Thursday, the Grammy-nominated artist released a statement on social media, writing: “We’re really getting a sense of how bad this all is … I don’t know what to say. I’ve never been in war, but the devastation, the people’s faces in a place I know by heart have left me feeling helpless. It’s total devastation.”

The Category 5 hurricane with 180 mph winds hit Puerto Rico on Wednesday night after smashing a string of small northern Caribbean islands. The highly destructive Hurricane Irma left at least one million Puerto Rico residents without power as it continues to roar through the Caribbean.

Irma — one of the strongest storms ever recorded on the Atlantic — has killed at least 10 people in St. Martin, St. Bart, Barbuda and Anguilla.