Weatherman abruptly stops live hurricane report to heroically save woman trapped in flooded car

Whether by sheer coincidence or through some elaborate plan orchestrated by destiny, some people find themselves in the right place at the right time. Something similar happened with weather meteorologist Bob Van Dillen when he was reporting on floods caused by Hurricane Helene in North Atlanta, Georgia, as per TIME Magazine. During live reporting, he noticed a woman stuck in the floods. Without wasting a second, he rushed in to rescue the woman. In a post shared by Fox News on X, he can be seen going out of his way to save the woman and ensuring she is alright.

“This lady drove into the flood and is crying for help. We’ve called 911,” Dillen reported. The woman was persistently yelling for help and given the situation, the reporter knew that he couldn’t wait till 911 reached the place. “We’ll get right back to you, I’m going to go see what we can do to help her,” he said. Pausing the live broadcast and rushing over, the video immediately cuts to Dillen making his way out with the woman.

The woman clung to him as he struggled to get out of the water with her, leaving his cameraman and other colleagues baffled. His fellow reporters who were connected live to the news station continued the commentary as they saw him walk out with the woman. “That guy is a hero!” they exclaimed. 

Sharing what provoked him to go beyond, Dillen said, “I realized I’m with you guys on air but I couldn’t let it go. So I dropped everything and I took my wallet out and went into chest-deep water.” The reporter added that the water level was still rising when he reached the woman and she was panicking, strapped into her car. He immediately calmed her down and gently guided her out of the vehicle and into safety. “She’s fine, she was cold, shivering, so I gave her one of my shirts I had and she was fine,” he added. The woman was grateful for the life-saving intervention by the reporter. Dillen mentioned that she was much shorter and it would have most likely become a problem for her to maneuver her way out of the rising water.

The rescue team arrived shortly but was glad to know the woman was fine. People applauded the bravery and kindheartedness Dillen showed by facing the risk to rescue the woman. @shahidkhan762 wrote, “It's inspiring to see Fox Weather's meteorologist stepping in to help someone in such a critical situation. A true hero during these challenging times.” @NewsTrendo added, “What an incredible act of bravery! Huge respect to the Fox Weather meteorologist for stepping in to help during such a dangerous situation!” @tosin007 remarked, “I still have faith in the goodness of humanity.” @KATSLAW2023 said, “Thank you, for going that extra mile - that is what a good person does, and a brave one.”