Florida man 'Lieutenant Dan' who refused to leave his boat survives ...

Joseph Malinowski, who is named after the character played by actor Gary Sinise in the 1994 hit movie Forrest Gump, rode out the hurricane in his 20-foot boat.

His nickname is due to the fact that his leg was amputated below the knee. In Forrest Gump, Lieutenant Dan lost both of his legs below the knee during the Vietnam War.

Malinowski went viral earlier this week after he appeared in a TikTok video posted by Terrence Concannon insisting he wouldn’t evacuate ahead of the hurricane.

Instead, the wiry Tampa sailor declared “the safest place in the world to be is my boat.”

As journalists reached the scene in the wake of the Category 3 storm, a battered but defiant ‘Lieutenant Dan’ emerged from his boat to say he was fine.

Kevin O’Donnell, an anchor for local media outlet FOX 13 News, posted a clip on ‘X’ with the caption, “Lieutenant Dan" UPDATE: He survived to talk about his wild night riding out Hurricane Milton on his 20 ft sailboat.”

As O’Donnell zooms in on the boat Malinowski asks, “Hi, how you doing? It’s Lieutenant Dan.”

“How are you doing?” O’Donnell responds. “How’s the ride?”

“The water’s gone?” Malinowski replies.

“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 responds.

He admitted he was a bit tired after the storm and said he was looking forward to sleeping - but described his evening in the middle of the storm as "uneventful" and "mellow".

Malinowski, who lives on his fishing boat, said: "It was pretty good, I mean it wasn't too bad."

He added that during Hurricane Milton, his boat suffered some "cosmetic damage" as the wind didn't blow from the west, as he expected, but from the east.

When asked by Sky News if he was scared at any point during the storm, he declared: "No. I was right here and I wasn't going anywhere, so I wasn't concerned. It was alright."

He then said he was "ready to go back to bed" as he had stayed awake all night just to make sure that nothing went wrong and "in case anything happened, I'd be able to fix it." And he added: "It was uneventful. It was nice. It was mellow."

Tampa police had tried to persuade the local resident to leave for his own safety ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Milton but Malinowski said: “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.”

The interviewer then asked Malinowski if he would be wearing a life jacket to brace for Milton, to which he responded, “Hell no,” later adding, “The safest place in the world to be is my boat.”

Since posting the TikTok, Concannon has started a GoFundMe for Malinowski, which has so far raised over $33,000.