Meet Lieutenant Dan who refused to leave his boat during Hurricane Milton. What happened next will...

A Tampa Bay, Florida resident has survived after braving Hurricane Milton alone on his 20-foot sailboat in the harbour. Nicknamed 'Lieutenant Dan' based on a Forrest Gump character,Joe Malinowski went viral on social mediaafter he said he would not evacuate and instead ride out the life-threatening hurricane.

Both local and national officials had been pleading with residents to follow evacuation orders and get to safety immediately. Several officials even approachedMalinowski and requested him to take shelter elsewhere but the Tampa man refused to budge.

In a video posted on Tuesday (Oct 8),Malinowski explained his reasoning for staying on his boat: "My faith is 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’s got my back. I’m in good shape. We’re gonna ride this one out," he added.

On Thursday morning,Kevin O’Donnell, an anchor for local media outlet FOX 13 News posted a clip of his interaction with Dan, who had seemingly survived the worst of the hurricane.

“Lieutenant Dan UPDATE: He survived to talk about his wild night riding out Hurricane Milton on his 20 ft sailboat. #LieutenantDan #HurricaneMilton," postedO’Donnell.

In the video, O’Donnell zooms in on Dan's boat and asks him:“How are you doing?How’s the ride?”

“The water’s gone?” Malinowski responded.“Yeah it’s going out … It’s being pulled out,” O’Donnell adds, before asking him how he is doing.

"I’m doing fine,” Malinowski replied.

“Was it as bad as you thought?” O’Donnell asks, to which he replies, “No. Is the water coming back in or is it still going out?”

“It’s going out,” says O’Donnell. “You hang in there.”

Hurricane Milton

Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida as a Category 3 storm late Wednesday (Oct 9) after weakening from a Category 5 storm.Over three million Florida homes and businesses were without power after the storm hit the coastline and moved inland.

Milton triggered tornadoes before its arrival, with unconfirmed reports of multiple fatalities after one twister struck a retirement community on Florida's east coast. As of the last update, at least four people were confirmed dead as a result of the two tornadoes.

(With inputs from agencies)