Man Known As Viral 'Lieutenant Dan' Refuses To Leave His Boat As Hurricane Milton Hits Florida

Hurricane Milton struck US’ Florida on Wednesday, causing large-scale damage to life and property in the region. Rescue operations were carried out to take people to safer places as one of the deadliest storms in history approached Florida. Amidst all the chaos, a man named Joseph Malinowski ignored warnings and chose to ride out Hurricane Milton in Tampa Bay on a boat.

Joseph Malinowski, nicknamed Lieutenant Dan, became a viral star during Hurricane Helene which struck the region last month.

In the clips posted on TikTok, Lieutenant Dan can be seen getting ready to confront the storm with a boat.

Local and national officials in the US over the past few days advised people to heed the evacuation orders and, according to NBC News police attempted to convince Malinowski to abandon his boat.

Lieutenant Dan, however, declared to defy all legal and expert guidance and remain where he is, telling the Sky News US reporter, “I’m gonna be fine.”

“I’m gonna be fine. This is a boat. It’s meant to be on water. The water’s going to surge, it’s not a tsunami,” he added.

He asserted that he had slept through Hurricane Helene and would be able to do it again.

Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said on Wednesday that Malinowski had a change of heart on that. “He has been rescued, and he is now in a shelter as well. If we can get Lieutenant Dan to go to a shelter, we can get anybody to do that,” she was quoted by NBC News.

However, Malinowski claimed that was not true at all. He said while the officers attempted to get him off of the boat several times, their efforts were futile.

Malinowski added that after the statement of the mayor, a city police chief came to the harbour telling him that the city marine unit would secure his boat for him in case he sought refuge in a shelter. Malinowski reported that he declined to do so.

“I’m still on my boat.” After the mayor’s press conference, he spoke with NBC over the phone from his boat, saying, “I’m still afloat, and the rain’s coming down kind of hard, but that’s about it,” he said.

Malinowski declared that he would seek refuge elsewhere if his boat began to collapse. “But if it’s just wind and some heavy rain, I can deal with that.”

Milton made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane on October 10. It had earlier made landfall as a Category 5 storm over the Gulf of Mexico.