Hurricane Milton hero 'Lieutenant Dan' breaks silence and claims 'I've had more eventful nights'

Online sensation Joseph Malinowski - amended known arsenic 'Lieutenant Dan' - described Hurricane Milton arsenic 'uneventful' and 'mellow' aft defying orders to permission his sportfishing boat

Hurricane Milton leader 'Lieutenant Dan' has breached his soundlessness aft defying orders to permission his vessel past nighttime arsenic helium declared: "I've had much eventful nights."

Joseph Malinowski, who mislaid a limb successful a car mishap astatine the property of 16, defiantly ignored evacuation orders successful Tampa Bay, Florida, and decided to enactment successful his 20ft vessel passim the storm. After the hurricane made landfall, Lieutenant Dan, who has go an net sensation aft refusing the police's connection to get into a shelter, said Milton was "awesome" and adjacent claimed it wasn't arsenic beardown arsenic Hurricane Helene 2 weeks ago.

Lieutenant Dan admitted helium was a spot bushed aft the tempest and said helium was looking guardant to sleeping - but described his evening successful the mediate of the tempest arsenic "uneventful" and "mellow". Joe, who lives connected his sportfishing boat, said: "It was beauteous good, I mean it wasn't excessively bad."

Speaking to Sky News analogous James Matthews, helium said his vessel got trapped for a spot and astatine immoderate constituent mislaid his anchor, but was capable to thrust successful the other absorption to the wind. He added: "Actually this wasn't arsenic atrocious arsenic Helene was. Helene was worse than that was."

Lieutenant Dan added that during Hurricane Milton, his vessel suffered immoderate "cosmetic damage" arsenic the upwind didn't stroke from the west, arsenic helium expected, but from the east. When asked if helium was frightened astatine immoderate constituent during the storm, helium declared: "No. I was close present and I wasn't going anywhere, truthful I wasn't concerned. It was alright."

He past said helium was "ready to spell backmost to bed" arsenic admitted helium stayed awake each nighttime conscionable to marque definite that thing went incorrect and "in lawsuit thing happened, I'd beryllium capable to hole it." And helium added: "It was uneventful. It was nice. It was mellow."

Joe's nickname is owed to the information that his limb was amputated beneath the knee. In Forrest Gump, Lieutenant Dan mislaid some of his legs beneath the genu during the Vietnam War. The Tampa antheral was spotted astatine 11pm past nighttime poking his caput retired the vessel to importune to reporters that helium "was fine" aft posting an earlier TikTok explaining however helium was getting connected successful the boat.

"They're saying the tempest is inactive astir an hr and a fractional out, and if that's the lawsuit and I'm feeling treble of what it is now, that's not a problem, not a occupation now," helium told his societal media followers. He besides tried to reassure radical his vessel was "secure" successful the 120mph winds and that it had not been earnestly damaged during the storm.

"I'm not taking connected immoderate water, I haven't adjacent spilled my java yet," helium told his much than 242k followers. "I'm good, I've got everything I need, I've got plentifulness of water, I've got plentifulness of food. I could beryllium successful present for 2 weeks. I've got everything I request - coffee, creamer, everything."

Despite Lieutenant Dan's defiant attitude, astir 120 homes were destroyed earlier Milton made galore of them mobile homes successful communities for older adults. More than 3.3 cardinal homes were near without electricity, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks inferior reports.

St. Petersburg residents besides were without household pat h2o aft the metropolis unopen down work owed to a h2o main break. Officials successful Hillsborough, Pinellas, Sarasota and Lee counties urged radical to enactment home, informing of downed powerfulness lines, trees successful roads, blocked bridges and flooding.