The United States Coast Guard reported that a man was saved alive after hanging on to a refrigerator at sea about 50 kilometers from the coast of the state of Florida, the main area affected by the storm hurricane “Milton”.
The man, who wore a life jacketwas rescued by a helicopter around 1:30 p.m. (local time) Thursday outside the town of Longboat Key. Authorities said he was then transferred to an area hospital.
Shipwrecked by the waves
Known as Captain Dave, the man was shipwrecked due to strong waves caused by the hurricane after going out to repair the boat. The captain reported that the rudder got caught on a rope and became useless during the attempt to return to port, as indicated by the coast guard.
The Coast Guard asked the man to put on his life jacket and maintain the emergency position while deploying a rescue device.
“A nightmare scenario”
A helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Miami took off around 5:30 a.m. Thursday (local time) to try to rescue him safely despite waves that could reach up to between 6 and 7 meters highwith winds reaching 140 kilometers per hour. “It’s a nightmare scenario for even the most experienced sailor.“, stressed the coast guard.
“Milton” made landfall Wednesday evening as a Category 3 hurricane, with sustained winds of up to 193 kilometers per houralthough it lost intensity until it became a category 1 hurricane as it moved towards the sea. It is estimated that a dozen people have died in recent days.
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