A man was rescued 48 kilometers off Longboat Key, on the west coast of the state of Florida, after Hurricane Milton passed through, while holding onto a cooler in the open sea, as reported by the United States Coast Guard.
PUBLICIDAD
According to the information published by the Coast Guard, the rescue took place on Thursday, around 13:30 local time, and the man was a fishing boat captain who got caught in the storm during the passage of the hurricane.
PUBLICIDAD
What was known about the case of the man rescued from a cooler?
According to authorities, the rescued man is the captain of a fishing boat that last Monday had to report that his vessel was experiencing issues, so he and another crew member had to be rescued by helicopter. The boat was left adrift and now measures must be taken for its subsequent salvage.
After this report, on Wednesday afternoon, the owner of the boat notified the Coast Guard that the captain had returned to the vessel with the intention of repairing it. The rescuers contacted the captain, who indicated that he was having issues with the boat's rudder and couldn't return to port.
At that moment, with the imminent arrival of hurricane Milton to the coastal area, the waves were over 1.8 meters high and the winds had already reached 48 km/hr. Due to the complexity of the situation, the officials instructed the man to put on his life jacket and hold onto his emergency radio beacon.
The next day, he was found by the Coast Guard while floating in open sea: "This man survived a nightmare scenario even for the most experienced sailor," said Lieutenant Commander Dana Grady, commanding officer of the St. Petersburg sector, in the Coast Guard statement.
“To understand the seriousness of the hurricane conditions, we estimate that this man experienced winds of approximately 120-145 km/h, waves of up to 6-7 meters for an extended period of time, including one night,” he said. “He survived thanks to his life jacket, his emergency radio beacon, and a cooler,” he added.