Hurricane Helene has dumped historic amounts of water on the southeastern United States, including the usually hurricane-safe Atlanta area. The morning of Sept. 27, after the storm passed through, Fox Weather reporter Bob Van Dillen was on the ground covering the flooding when he suddenly had to jump into life-saving action.
While Van Dillen did a live shot around 7 a.m. local time, a woman can be heard in the background screaming for help from inside her submerged car. Van Dillen noted that he'd called 911 but realized the water levels were rising and he had to act quickly.
"We will get back to you in a little bit; I'm going to go see if I can help this lady out a little bit more, you guys. I'll be back," he told the Fox & Friends hosts in the studio before rushing off-camera to save the woman. A few minutes later, Van Dillen is seen carrying the woman through several feet of water.
Van Dillen acknowledged after saving her that emergency services are "swamped" as the area deals with such severe weather. "I couldn't wait any more," he stated plainly, noting he made sure to take his phone and wallet out of his pockets before attempting the rescue.
"She was panicking. She really wasn’t making too much sense, and she was still strapped into her car seat," Van Dillen told Fox & Friends after the incident, per Variety. "She 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 explained how he wasn't able to open the door at first because of the water pressure but was able to get it open after he told her to roll the window down more. Shockingly, even after the woman was saved, the car was still running with the windshield wipers on.
"The battery is still alive and kicking in that car. In fact, I think the engine is still on," he said. At six feet two inches, Van Dillen was able to stand in the water up to his chest, but the smaller woman wouldn't have been able to.
"It’s up to my chest and there’s a little bit of a current, but she was a short lady too," he said. “She was probably about five feet. There’s no way she was going to be able to touch [the ground]."
Afterward, Fox's on-air personalities weren't surprised at Van Dillen's selfless act, saying it's indicative of "the type of guy" he is. It's safe to say if you're out during a storm and find yourself in trouble in the back of a live news shot, you'll want the reporter to be him.
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