Coast Guard rescues man clinging to cooler near Sarasota

A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crew rescued a man holding on to a cooler about 30 miles off of Longboat Key in Florida in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, according to a post Thursday on the social platform X.

The man was taken to Tampa General Hospital for medical care, the Coast Guard said in the post. The Coast Guard’s Sector St. Petersburg had lost communications with the man at around 6:45 in the evening Wednesday.

BBC reported that the man is the captain of a fishing vessel and had called the Coast Guard on Monday to say the boat was disabled. The captain and another crew member were rescued by helicopter and the boat was “left adrift,” but around noon Wednesday, the owner of the ship had told officials that the captain returned to the vessel, BBC said.

The captain reported issues with the boat to rescuers, and officials told the captain to put on a life jacket, according to BBC.

“This man survived in a nightmare scenario for even the most experienced mariner,” said Lt. Commander Dana Grady, chief commander of Sector St. Petersburg, BBC reported.

The Associated Press reported Friday morning that at least eight people were dead in Milton’s wake. More than 3 million lost power, the AP said.

About 80,000 people spent the night in shelters, and thousands had evacuated after officials gave mandatory orders in about 15 counties, according to the AP.

Hurricane Milton came soon after Hurricane Helene, which left at least 230 people dead throughout the South, the AP reported.