A Florida man nicknamed Lt. Dan, who went viral for saying he would withstand Hurricane Milton on a boat, subsequently survived the storm.

“I put my faith in God. I don’t put my faith in man. God told me to come out here and get a boat. I came out here and got a boat. And everything He’s been telling me the last few days is I’m doing the right thing, He’s got my back. I’m in good shape, I ain’t sweating it,” the man, real name Joseph Malinowski, told TikToker Terrence Concannon earlier in the week.

On top of commending his fate to the divine, Mr. Malinowski told Mr. Concannon that the rising water would lift his 20-foot sailboat floating outside Tampa and that, if something happened to the boat, he would float along the water himself. Like the eponymous “Forrest Gump” character, Mr. Malinowski is missing part of his left leg.

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Tampa Mayor Jane Castor claimed that Tampa police put Mr. Malinowski in a shelter, but he said no way, according to NewsNation.

“The only reason they care at all about evacuation is because dead people are a bad election point. And since I’ve blown up the way I have, they’re trying to get me to someplace where they know I’ll be here tomorrow. Right now, I’m out of their control, and I like it that way,” Mr. Malinowski told NBC News.

Mr. Malinowski has a criminal record, having served six months for punching a cop and having been arrested following allegations that he tried to light a woman on fire with gasoline. He is due back in a state court this month to determine whether he legally owns the boat, according to University of Florida NPR affiliate WUFT-FM.

Milton hit land near Siesta Key in Sarasota County as a Category 3 hurricane at around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center posted on X. NewsNation reporter Brian Entin checked back up on Mr. Malinowski’s boat after the storm went through.

“I’m fine,” Mr. Malinowski told Mr. Entin.

On Thursday, Mr. Malinowski told USA Today, “The hand of God was over Tampa. It wasn’t too bad.”