A man in Tampa, Florida, nicknamed “Lt. Dan” has survived the wrath of Hurricane Milton while sheltering on his boat.
He told NewsNation reporter Brian Entin he was “fine” late on Wednesday in the aftermath of the storm, WGN 9 reported Thursday.
“Lieutenant Dan is okay!” Entin wrote in a social media post on Wednesday just before 11:00 p.m.
The clip he shared shows the man pop his head out of his boat after Entin called his name several times:
Locals had been worried about the man, whose real name is Joseph Malinowski, because he refused to evacuate his sailboat. He gets his nickname from a character in the movie Forrest Gump who clung to a boat during a huge storm:
It is important to note that Malinowski only has one leg.
According to the WGN 9 report, “At a Wednesday midday press conference, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said Tampa police rescued ‘Lt. Dan’ and took him to a shelter that morning. However, he made it back to his boat by afternoon.”
During the news conference, she said, “The Tampa Police Department this morning just saved Lt. Dan. He has been rescued and he is now in a shelter as well. So if we can get Lt. Dan to go to a shelter we can get anybody to do that,” she added:
In another social media post, Entin confirmed the mayor’s statement but shared a photo of Lt. Dan inside his boat.
“I know the Mayor of Tampa just said in her press conference that Lieutenant Dan went to a shelter. He didn’t, I’m standing right here,” he wrote:
Additional video footage shows Entin on Wednesday reporting near Lt. Dan’s sailboat as the storm approached:
Prior to the hurricane making landfall, Lt. Dan said, “I’m not going anywhere because the safest place to be is on a boat in a flood. We learned that with Noah. Everyone who stayed on land drowned. Noah and the animals lived.”
Thursday morning brought a growing death count, flooding, homelessness, gas shortages, and power outages to Florida after the hurricane, Breitbart News reported.
“The massive weather event smashed Florida as a Category 3 storm, bringing misery to millions still ravaged by Hurricane Helene, pounding cities with winds of over 100 mph alongside a barrage of tornadoes, but sparing Tampa a direct hit,” the outlet said.
