Viral Florida Man ‘Lieutenant Dan’ Is Safe After Riding Out Hurricane Milton

Joseph Malinowski, the 54-year-old Tampa, Florida, resident affectionately known as “Lieutenant Dan,” is safe after riding out Hurricane Milton in his 20-foot sailboat. After the storm made landfall Wednesday evening as a Category 3 storm near Siesta Key, Malinowski could be seen emerging from his boat in updates shared to social media by reporters.

NewsNation correspondent Brian Entin checked on “Lieutenant Dan,” nicknamed after the character played by actor Gary Sinise in Forrest Gump, throughout the night. He returned with a positive update after the storm moved through, sharing a video of Malinowski saying, “I’m fine… Right now I’m doing fine. I’m stuck here. I can’t go anywhere.”

FOX 13 News anchor Kevin O’Donnell also shared the positive update on Malinowski, sharing a video to social media captioned, “’Lieutenant Dan’ UPDATE : He survived to talk about his wild night riding out Hurricane Milton on his 20 ft sailboat.” In the video, O’Donnell zoomed in on the sailboat as Malinowski asked, “Hi, how you doing? It’s Lieutenant Dan.”

“How are you doing? How’s the ride?” O’Donnell asked. When Malinowski asked if the water was gone, O’Donnell informed him, “Yeah it’s going out … It’s being pulled out.” When asked if the storm was as bad as he was expecting, Malinowski, who said he was “doing fine,” responded, “No. Is the water coming back in or is it still going out?” O’Donnell told him “It’s going out” and encouraged Malinowski to “hang in there.”

Despite Tampa Mayor Jane Castor’s dire evacuation warning, Malinowski went viral earlier this week after he proclaimed a TikTok video with Terrence Concannon that he would not be leaving his sailboat to escape the storm. He said the “safest place in the world to be is my boat.”

“My faith in God. God told me to come out here and get a boat. I came out here and got a boat. He’s been telling me in the last two days I’m doing the right thing,” he explained his decision. “He’s got my back. I’m in good shape. We’re gonna ride this one out.”

The video sparked plenty of concern for Malinowski, who was visited by Tampa police Chief Lee Bercaw, who asked him to leave for someplace safer. Tampa’s mayor revealed during a Wednesday afternoon press conference that Malinowski had been “rescued, and he is now in a shelter as well.” However, Malinowski returned to his sailboat later that afternoon, with Entin telling 8 On Your Side, “He is here. He is definitely on the boat. We can see him.”

Amid his newfound viral fame, a GoFundMe page created by Concannon for Malinowski has raised more than $34,000. The money raised will go towards purchasing Malinowski “a new boat to continue his seafaring adventures.”