Dramatic footage shows a Fox News weather forecaster stopping his live segment to save a woman trapped in her car by flooding caused by ferocious Hurricane Helene.
Weather reporter Bob Van Dillen leapt into action as he was reporting live from northern Atlanta, Georgia, where Helene wreaked havoc on Friday morning after hitting Florida earlier in the day.
Van Dillen started by noting that the woman had driven straight into the flooding, and she could be heard crying for help, as he informed the studio that he had called 911 and was awaiting the fire department’s arrival.
With her cries continuing during his broadcast, Van Dillen cut his live report short to wade into the water and rescue her.
HEROIC RESCUE: @foxweather meteorologist rushes to save a woman from rising floodwaters as deadly Helene slams Southeast. pic.twitter.com/Nv9tvtFJoF
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 27, 2024
Fox anchors praised him as a “hero” as he carried her to safety through chest-high waters.
Van Dillen’s brave rescue followed Hurricane Helene’s landfall in Florida’s Big Bend area as a Category 4 storm, causing widespread destruction across several states.
After saving the woman, Van Dillen returned to the broadcast of “Fox & Friends” and explained that he entered the floodwaters because he doubted the emergency services would arrive in time.
“It’s hard not to, because 911 have so many calls,” he explained upon returning to Fox and Friends. “They’re going to take a long time to get here, but the fire department finally did get here.”
Van Dillen shared that when he first reached the woman, she was panicking and not making much sense.
“She was still had the seat buckle on. And she had her window about this much down and she’s trying to talk to me through that,” he described.
“So, I’m trying to open up the door and the water pressure wasn’t allowing me to do it,” Van Dillen remarked, noting that she had to roll down the window he could open the door.
The weatherman said that the water was up to his chest and a current was pushing him as he helped pull the woman, who was only about five feet tall compared to his six-foot-one stature, to safety.
“I think the panic factor was setting in. And when you start to panic and you’re in water and it starts getting cold, you can really, things could really go downhill quickly. So, I just – I couldn’t wait,” he said about going into the water to save the woman.
Helene hit land at 11:10 p.m. ET Thursday near Perry, Florida, with 140-mph winds, making it the first Category 4 storm to strike Florida’s Big Bend region in over 170 years.
At daybreak, scenes of overturned boats, flattened homes, and deep floodwaters emerged across the storm-ravaged area.
For hours, the storm retained hurricane strength as it moved inland across northern Florida and into Georgia.
On Friday, the National Hurricane Center downgraded Helene to a tropical storm with sustained winds of 45 mph.
Flood alerts were issued across parts of the Carolinas and Atlanta, urging residents to seek higher ground as communities faced up to 10 inches of rain.
Hundreds of water rescues have been made throughout the Southeast as catastrophic rainfall and persistent flooding off the coast plagues the area.
In another notable rescue, the Coast Guard saved a man and a dog who were sailing near Sanibel Island as Hurricane Helene approached Florida on Thursday.
The 36-foot sailboat began taking on water about 25 miles away from the island, the Coast Guard reported on social media.
🚨 HEROIC RESCUE! The U.S. Coast Guard shared a video of their daring rescue of a man and his dog after their sailboat was disabled during Hurricane #Helene. Both are safe and in good health.
📹: AST2 Hudson, edited by Lt. Cmdr. Kellerman, AirSta Clearwater pic.twitter.com/aD5lpt8cxz
— John-Carlos Estrada 🎙️ (@Mr_JCE) September 27, 2024
Shocking footage shows a fearless Coast Guard member descending into rough water from a helicopter to get down to the man and his dog.
Once the Coast Guard member was close enough to the boat, both the man and his dog got into water and were lifted into a rescue basket that was hoisted back to the helicopter.
The video ends with the man clutching his dog and high-fiving his rescuers.
The Coast Guard brought them to Southwest Florida International Airport, where they received medical attention. The agency stated that both were in good condition.
So far, there have been eight storm-related deaths have reported across Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.
More than 4.4 million homes have lost power from Florida to Virginia.