Update: Lieutenant Dan has been transported to a Tampa Bay shelter.
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor announced the good news during a press conference on Wednesday.
“The Tampa Police Department, this morning, just saved Lieutenant Dan. He has been rescued, and he is now in a shelter as well. If we can get Lieutenant Dan to go to a shelter, we can get anybody to do that.”
The original story is as follows.
As Hurricane Milton approaches Florida’s Gulf Coast, homeowners are running out of time to flee. While the majority of Tampa residents have followed the mayor’s evacuation instructions, some have remained behind, either by choice or need.
One such man, known as “Lieutenant Dan,” has piqued the interest of the internet, officials, and The Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore for refusing to leave his 20-foot boat docked in Tampa Bay.
“The water’s going to come in, it’s going to rise. If you’re on land, it’s going to flood. You’re risking drowning. I’m in a boat, so the boat goes up with the water… it’s really the safest place to be, on my boat,” the man, who goes by Joe Sea, said.
A TikTok user known as Tampa Terrence has been following Lieutenant Dan since he rode out Hurricane Helene on his boat in Tampa Bay in late September.
But now, supporters of the man, who shares a nickname with the Forrest Gump character who is also an amputee, are concerned that he may not survive the much stronger Hurricane Milton, which is expected to hit the coast late Wednesday or early Thursday.
Through a series of videos, Terrence attempted to persuade Lieutenant Dan that he needed to abandon ship and seek refuge in a house or hotel.
The seafarer refused, claiming he was better off aboard his boat. Since his boat was all he had, he wanted to do everything he could to keep it safe from the hurricane.
Even the local police paid Lieutenant Dan a visit and gave him information on shelters in the area, but nothing could persuade him. Not even Jim Cantore from The Weather Channel.
“I know that God didn’t bring me this far for something to happen to me,” he told the meteorologist and on-air personality for The Weather Channel.
“The more you go through it, the more you learn,” he said, referring to surviving Hurricane Helene. “I’m confident in my ability to ride it out unless it turns into a Wizard of Oz-type situation, and I wind up in Kansas.”
“I’ll be here. I’ll see you Friday,”
As of October 8, Lieutenant Dan has decided to stay put.
I pray that he makes the right decision and even if it’s at the last minute, I hope he seeks shelter somewhere on land. There are many people who are now concerned for his safety.