Hurricane Ian Touches Down as Florida Native Ross Chastain Opens Up on “The Worst Storm”

As a result of the destruction caused by Hurricane Ian in Florida, road access and phone connectivity have been impaired and a high number of Floridians are currently struggling through flooded homes and building debris. NASCAR driver and Florida native Ross Chastain recently shared updates on the hurricane with Fox reporter Bob Pockrass.

Ross Chastain revealed that his family is safe. He said, “I’ve not seen any pictures or videos. Their phones aren’t working enough to send videos or pictures out. It stopped yesterday afternoon. But I’ve talked to a lot of my family on the phone. And everybody is accounted for and everybody that we know is accounted for.”

Further, Chastain explained how this storm was one of the worst ones to hit the country. He said, “In my dad’s words, it was the worst storm he has ever seen. He has lived through them all. He has never left.” Moreover, he revealed that the storm surge came up in the Caloosahatchee River river which he lives close to.

And the surge flooded a lot of homes in his area. He said, “There there’s a lot of people that are not gonna be sleeping in their homes tonight. Just the river was higher, pushed more water over across the lock system, and went farther upriver and flooded houses that were never flooded before. And got close to ours and our neighbors but we were safe.”

Further, he revealed that the storm affected a lot of crops. He said, “We don’t have any watermelons in the ground right now, but we know people that have different vegetables. There’s just a lot of veg that’s grown in South Florida at this time of the year.”

Moreover, he explained that he has not yet talked to the farmers about their crops as he was more concerned about them and their families.

READ MORE: Ross Chastain Reveals Why at Times “It’s Acceptable to Just Crash These Expensive Race Cars”

Chastain also shared that the storm has now slowed down. However, a lot of rain dumps and pushed water has spread out into the surrounding areas. Talking about the current situation, he said that a lot of houses were damaged, and a lot of pole boards were down. Fortunately, everybody that he knows is safe.

 When Ross Chastain showed off his family farm in Florida

In the fifth episode of USA Network’s ‘Race for the Championship’, Ross Chastain shared a glimpse of his family watermelon farm in Alva, Florida. Ross and his brother Chad are the eighth-generation watermelon farmers in their family.

Before turning into a full-time racing driver, Ross Chastain worked on his father’s farm until the age of thirteen. And as a homage to his family farming, Chastain makes sure to carry a watermelon to each of his races. Moreover, fans gave him the nickname the ‘Watermelon Man’ for smashing a watermelon after his first Cup Series victory.

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In the ‘Race for the Championship’ episode, Chastain shared a sneak peek of his childhood at the JDI farms in Florida. He also shared how he embarked on the journey of taking up racing as his career. Furthermore, Chastain also revealed how his grandfather reacted positively to him smashing a watermelon after his victory.