Hurricane Helene dumped historic amounts of water across the southeastern United States, including the generally hurricane-safe Atlanta area. On the morning of September 27, after the storm had passed, Fox Weather reporter Bob Van Dillen was on the ground monitoring the flooding and suddenly had to take life-saving action.
While Van Dillen was filming live around 7 a.m. local time, a woman can be heard screaming for help from inside the submerged car in the background. Van Dillen said he called 911 but noticed the water levels were rising and needed to act quickly.
“We'll get back to you in a minute; I'll go see if I can help this lady a little more, guys. I'll be back,” he said. Fox and Friends he hosts in the studio before running off camera to save the woman. Moments later, Van Dillen is seen carrying the woman across several feet of water.
After rescuing him, Van Dillen acknowledged that emergency services were “stacked” due to such severe weather conditions in the area. “I couldn't wait any longer,” he said, noting that he made sure to take his phone and wallet out of his pocket before trying to save them.
“He was panicking. He wasn't really talking much sense and he was still strapped in his car seat,” Van Dillen said. Fox and Friends after the incident Diversity. “The seat buckle was still on and the window was this wide open and he was trying to talk me through it.”
He explained that at first he couldn't open the door because of the water pressure, but when he told him to lower the window further, he was able to open the door. Surprisingly, even after the woman was rescued, the car was still running with the windshield wipers on.
“The battery is still alive and working inside the car. I actually think the engine is still on,” he said. Van Dillen, who was 6 feet tall, was able to stand up to his chest in water, but the smaller woman could not.
“It comes up to my chest and there is a little discharge, but she was also a short woman,” he said. “It was probably about five feet. There's no way he can touch [the ground]”
Afterwards, Fox's on-air personalities were not surprised by Van Dillen's selfless act, saying it was indicative of “the kind of man” he was. If you're out and about during a storm and get into trouble behind a live news shoot, it's safe to say you'll want her to be the reporter.