A one-legged Florida man who lives on a sailboat has become famous for refusing to leave his boat before Hurricane Milton hit Tampa Bay.

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11/10/2024 15:59

Joseph Malinowsky after the storm. (Source: Facebook BoreCure)

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Joseph Malinowski, 54, known as “Lieutenant Dan” on social media, became famous after insisting on staying on his boat to ride out Hurricane Milton, the terrible storm that devastated parts of the United States.

A one-legged Florida man who lives on a 20-foot sailboat has become famous for refusing to leave his boat before a hurricane hit Tampa Bay with Category 3 winds of nearly 125 mph.

Before Milton hit, local authorities tried to convince Malinowski to evacuate to safety. Many people asked Malinowski to go to nearby hotels or their homes for shelter, but he refused.

Malinowski had previously become a national celebrity after TikTok creator Terrence Concannon posted a series of videos about Malinowski’s experiences staying on a boat during Hurricane Helene, another superstorm that had swept across the United States more than a dozen days earlier.

As Hurricane Milton approached Tampa, Malinowski took to his social media account to reassure his followers, as his boat rocked violently in the strong winds and increasingly heavy rain.

At around 8 a.m. on October 10 (local time), NBC News reporters texted Malinowski asking if he was okay after the storm, and he replied, “Fine.”

NewsNation reporter Brian Entin also posted a photo of Malinowski poking his head out from under the tarp covering his sailboat’s cabin after the storm.

Entin returned to check on Malinowski after Hurricane Milton hit and found his sailboat tied to a dock in Tampa Bay, where much else had been swept away by the storm.

He called “Lieutenant Dan” several times before the sailboat cabin opened, the stubborn sailor poked his head out and said calmly, “I’m fine.”

Despite the storm that has ripped through parts of the state, with at least 11 people reported dead, Malinowski has remained relatively calm in conversations with reporters and onlookers.

“I’m fine,” he told NBC News around 7 p.m. local time on October 9, about two hours before the storm hit.

Earlier, with forecasts of storm surge and winds reaching life-threatening levels, officials urged residents in the area to “evacuate or risk death.”

The dome of the Tropicana Stadium in Florida (USA) was in tatters after Hurricane Milton. (Source: Pollstar)

Malinowski, however, remained on his boat, which was tied up in the Tampa Bay harbor. He said the wind was blowing in a different direction than he had anticipated, but the overall situation was fine. “It’s starting to pick up now, but I’m not worried,” he told NBC News.

On his social media account, he also shared his feelings at that time: “Not scary, not harmful, just felt strange.”

Throughout that night, as the storm made landfall, “Lieutenant Dan” updated several more posts to his TikTok account, asserting that he would remain safe even as the storm intensified.

“I haven’t even spilled my coffee yet,” he said in a TikTok post around 10:30 p.m. local time on Wednesday.

At around 3am, he updated his status with the comment: “I’m alive, woowoo… Thank God.”

But after Malinowski was relieved to be safe, his social media followers began to worry about his life after the storm. A Go-Fund-Me page created before the storm hit to buy “Lieutenant Dan” a new boat has raised more than $39,000, with about $17,000 of that coming before the storm.

In addition to the donations, Malinowski was offered a streaming deal to later document his travels and adventures, but the offer was later rescinded, said Concannon, a senior at the University of Tampa who first shared Malinowski’s story on social media and created the fundraising campaign.

Fundraiser Concannon added that the money raised will go toward buying a new boat for Dan. Any remaining funds will be used to support his daily living expenses and future work.

For his part, Malinowsli said he hopes to use his now-famous TikTok account to document his everyday life.

Speaking about his unusual decision to stay on the boat during the storm, he said: “The safest place is on the boat. We learned that from Noah, when everyone on the shore drowned,” Malinowski told reporters. “If the tide comes in, I come in. As long as the water doesn’t get into the boat, I’m fine.”