Florida [US], October 11: The US Coast Guard rescued a fishing boat captain who survived Hurricane Milton at sea with only a cooler.
CBS News quoted the US Coast Guard as saying that the captain tried to escape Hurricane Milton on the night of October 9 in the Gulf of Mexico and was found clinging to a cooler on October 10 about 30 miles from shore.
Rescue workers dropped from a US Coast Guard helicopter rescued the man on the afternoon of October 10.
"This man survived a nightmare scenario for even the most experienced mariner. To understand the severity of the storm, we estimate he endured winds of approximately 75-90 mph (120-144 km/h), waves of 20-25 feet (6-7.6 meters), for an extended period of time that included the evening," said Dana Grady, commander of the Coast Guard's St. Petersburg sector command center.
The man survived with a life jacket, an emergency locator beacon and a cooler, Grady said.
He was the captain of a fishing boat that was damaged by waves on October 7 off the coast of St. Petersburg. The boat was abandoned at sea awaiting rescue.
At noon on October 9, the ship owner informed the US Coast Guard that the captain had returned to the ship for repairs and had lost contact since. The watchmen then contacted the captain and were informed that the rudder was tangled in a line and could not return to port.
Things got worse as Hurricane Milton approached, and the Coast Guard instructed the captain to wear a life jacket and not leave the ship's position-signaling device. Communications were cut off on the evening of October 9. That evening, Hurricane Milton hit the area as a Category 3 storm, bringing strong winds, rough seas and heavy rain.
The captain was rescued on the afternoon of October 10, 30 miles (48 kilometers) off Longboat Key. He was taken to a hospital in Tampa for a checkup.
In late September, the US Coast Guard also rescued a man and his dog during Hurricane Helene in waters off Sanibel Island in Florida, after the man's boat malfunctioned and took on water.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper