A one-legged Florida man who made headlines for refusing to leave his boat as Hurricane Milton approached has survived the stormy night at sea.
For days, Florida has been bracing for the huge storm to hit the state, with millions having evacuated before 125mph gusts and flooding hit.
One man had steadfastly decided to stay put though.
Joseph Malinowski has achieved internet stardom in recent days after refusing to leave his small boat before the storm hit.
Dubbed ‘Lieutenant Dan’ after the Forrest Gump character played by Gary Sinise, Malinowski refused to listen to advice from police and authorities to leave his boat and evacuate the area.
He managed to survive overnight, and emerged from below deck after the storm, telling a reporter: “I’m fine.”
During the night, he posted a TikTok describing that he and the boat were holding up as the storm started to close in.
He told his almost 250,000 followers: “They’re saying the storm is still about an hour and a half out, and if that’s the case and I’m feeling double of what it is now, that’s not a problem, not a problem now.”
“I’m not taking on any water, I haven’t even spilled my coffee yet.
“I’m good, I’ve got everything I need, I’ve got plenty of water, I’ve got plenty of food. I could be in here for two weeks.
“I’ve got everything I need – coffee, creamer, everything.
“I didn’t plan this, I didn’t expect this, but this was God’s plan for me to bring the world together,’ he said.
“I’m doing my thing and whatever happens happens.”
@jaysea334 Im on the boat speaking to a internet streamer im safe everyone i think i should be good thank you guys for the prayers and Support ❤️🙏. i will be going live on my backup @jaysea334backup Godbless you all ❤️. #fypシ #tampastrong #amputeelife #lieutenantdan #milton ♬ original sound – JoeSea
Multiple deaths have been reported since Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida.
According to NBC affiliate WPTV, the sheriff of Florida county St. Lucie has confirmed that multiple people have been killed at the senior community of Spanish Lakes Country Club.
This was due to a tornado outbreak, with sheriff Keith Pearson describing the conditions as “a weather event like none other”.
Described as looking like the “storm of the century” by US President Joe Biden before making landfall, people all the way across Florida were issued warnings.
Speaking to CBS News at that time, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said his state was “absolutely” ready for the conditions.
“I do think a lot of people did get out and I hope we don’t have to effectuate a lot of rescues but we’ll be ready,” he explained.
“It’ll be the largest search and rescue function that we’ve ever done.”
At the time of writing, there are more than three million customers without power in Florida in the wake of Hurricane Milton, according to Poweroutage.us.
This is as the authorities across the US state are urging the public stay off the streets as “extremely dangerous” downed power lines and other debris are being cleared.
At one point Hurricane Milton had been a category five storm, but it ended up weakening to a category one.
The BBC reports that storm managed to rip the roof of Major League Baseball stadium Tropicana Field, has caused tornadoes across Florida, and has left the people of west coast city St Petersburg without drinking water.
The hurricane comes two weeks after Hurricane Helene killed at least 225 people in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolina.
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