Viral Tampa sensation “Lieutenant Dan,” who rode out Hurricane Milton in a boat, describes how he survived

A Florida man named “Lieutenant Dan” had TikTok viewers around the world eagerly waiting for Hurricane Milton to pass through Tampa in hopes that he survived after he decided to ride out the storm on his small sailboat to survive. And he survived.

“I didn’t want to go anywhere,” Joseph Malinowski told Fox News Digital in an interview after the storm. “I never intended to leave. The storm didn't scare me because I didn't see it. I didn't write it. I didn’t make it possible.”

Despite pleas from residents, police officers and Tampa Mayor Jane Castor to leave and seek shelter, Malinowski decided to stay put, mooring his boat on Bayshore Boulevard near Tampa General Hospital. He also survived Hurricane Helene in the same boat.

“It’s a boat,” he said. “Keep the water out of the boat and everything will be fine.”

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Castor spoke during a news conference Wednesday evening and said the man the Tampa community refers to as “Lieutenant Dan” had been taken to an emergency shelter. But live TikTok feeds and news interviews showed he was still in his boat and refusing to abandon ship.

Malinowski's nickname “Lieutenant Dan” appears to be due to his resemblance to the character of the same name “Forrest Gump”, played by actor Gary Sinise. Malinowski is missing part of his left leg and uses crutches to get around.

“Was the wind strong? Yes. Was it crazy for a while? Yes, that was it. Did it bother me? No, because I knew what I was doing,” Malinowski said.

“I know I would be fine,” he said. “God had his finger on me.”

Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida on Wednesday evening as a Category 3 storm, shocking the Tampa Bay community already reeling from Hurricane Helene, a Category 4 storm that swept across Southeast Florida in late September, damaging homes and killing over 200 people throughout Florida killed , North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.

Malinowski went viral on social media platforms as users understood that he was desperate to stay in his place.

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He caught the attention of TikToker Adin Ross, who offered to buy “Lieutenant Dan” a boat worth $50,000 to $100,000 and initiated a full-time livestream TikTok deal in which Malinowski would document his “travels” and was able to generate income for the individual sailor via social media.

However, Ross withdrew the offer when he discovered Malinowski's lengthy criminal record, which includes arrests for punching a police officer and allegedly attempting to set a woman on fire, according to the New York Post.

“He offered it to me. I never asked,” Malinowski told a TikToker who recorded him live. “If you are concerned about your image and who is working for you, you should have done your due diligence and sought me out before making me an offer of a $100,000 sign-on bonus, $50,000 per month, and a $100,000 -dollar boat.”

According to the New York Post, his other previous charges include drug possession, attempted burglary and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

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Despite the backlash, Malinowski said he plans to ride out any future Tampa hurricanes with his boat, although the New York Post reported an open case questioning the boat's ownership.

Malinowski said that when Milton caused damage to the Tampa Bay, causing “cosmetic damage” to the boat, he began talking to God and meditating.

Wind gusts rose to 102 mph in St. Petersburg, less than 25 miles from Tampa, according to FOX Weather.

During meditation, Malinowski told Fox News Digital, he imagined a ring around him that he believed would have protected him from hitting the station wall. When he became distracted from meditation, he said he hit the dock again, causing more damage.

Before Hurricane Helene, Malinowski said he tied his anchor lines to the Bayshore Boulevard dock. He says he had a “peaceful night” and slept about four and a half hours before waking up in his boat off the dock and near Harbor Island, which shares the channel with Bayshore.

“It was bad at one point. It was really windy,” Malinowski said of Hurricane Milton. “I mean, the wind has really picked up, it's blowing through here and I'm bouncing around.”

Original source of the article: Viral Tampa sensation “Lieutenant Dan,” who rode out Hurricane Milton in a boat, describes how he survived