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TikToker Lieutenant Dan aka Joseph Malinowski recently received a lot of traction after he became the man refusing to leave his boat in Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton's landfall. According to Times Now, state officials requested the TikToker to evacuate his boat and he refused, stating that the boat was all he owned. However, he evacuated and was escorted to a safe shelter.
The incident led to people on the internet betting on whether Lieutenant Dan would survive the category 5 hurricane. On October 10, 2024, Kevin O'Donnell, a Fox 13 reporter confirmed via a tweet that the TikToker had survived the hurricane and landfall and mentioned along with a video:
"Lieutenant Dan update: He survived to talk about his wild night riding out Hurricane Milton on his 20ft sailboat."
Internet users were quick to react to the news of the TikToker surviving the hurricane and took to X to express their views on the same. Commenting on Lieutenant Dan as a scammer, an X user tweeted:
"Conman lives to scam another GoFundMe"
"NOOOOOOO I LOST EVERYTHING," an X user tweeted attaching a screenshot of the bet he placed on the TikToker surviving the hurricane.
"Wow, don't underestimate the Florida man!" another X user stated.
"And now he has a hottub on his boat... Major upgrade," an internet user mentioned.
"He must of filmed everything…camera man never dies," another internet user said.
Moreover, some internet users also praised the TikToker in their tweets:
"My mans made it. I told y’all he was the Top G. Lieutenant Dan for the Winn!!! Like and repost this here to spread awareness 🙏🏽❤️" an X user stated
"They should give the key to the city to this man lol," another X user tweeted.
"Lord protect Lieutenant Dan at all costs!!!" an internet user said.
"The safest place to be is on a boat in a flood"- Lieutenant Dan argued against leaving his boat amid hurricane
Known for living in a houseboat in Tampa Bay, Lieutenant Dan claims to have survived Hurricane Helene which hit Florida between September 24, 2024, to September 29, 2024. As per RiverBender, the TikToker gets his name from the 1994 movie Forest Gump because he doesn't have one leg, similar to the character he's named after.
According to WGN Radio dated October 9, 2024, the TikToker was encountered by Brian Entin from NewsNation wherein he said he was fine and wouldn't leave his boat during the hurricane.
Talking to NewsNation, Lieutenant Dan said:
“I’m not going anywhere because the safest place to be is on a boat in a flood. We learned that with Noah. Everyone who stayed on land drowned. Noah and the animals lived.”
Videos of the TikToker went viral and a GoFundMe campaign was created in the name: Support Lieutenant Dan's Seafaring Dreams which raised more than $19000 with the aim to get the TikToker to buy a bigger boat.
In other news, on October 10, 2024, during a live stream, Aiden Ross offered the TikToker 50K-100K boat along with a Kick deal for him to livestream his voyages. Aiden told the TikToker that the deal would be his passive income and allow his followers to see his adventures.
