Fox Weather Meteorologist Bob Van Dillen went from reporting on Hurricane Helene to being part of the news resulting from the massive storm.

Reporting from the Atlanta area in the pre-dawn hours after Helen made landfall, Van Dillen heard a woman’s cries for help amid the rapidly deteriorating conditions and was soon compelled to effect a harrowing rescue mission to save the desperate woman, according to Fox Weather.

The victim had driven into dark floodwaters and was trapped in her car.

“I just put the microphone down and called 911,” he said. “I know that those guys are swamped, so we waited about five minutes. She was getting panicked a little bit more because the water was coming up a little bit higher.”

Fox weather reporter to the rescue pic.twitter.com/XaCwFAU6Mo

— Karli Bonne’ (@KarluskaP) September 27, 2024

Standing 6’1″, Van Dillen leapt into action, wading into the chest-deep water, and battled the currents to get to the woman. After pulling her from the vehicle, he carried the frightened woman to safety.

“The water is like 80 degrees. It’s not cold, but I’m freezing right now,” he said. “She was sitting in there by herself, strapped in her car. So I know she was cold.”

Ever humble, Van Dillen tried to keep the focus on the impact of the storm and not his own heroic actions.

“Her husband picked her up, and she’s all good,” he said. “But the story now turns not on me, but it turns to how much flooding we’ve seen. I mean … amazing amounts coming in.”

Atlanta has just endured its wettest three-day period in 104 years and the city was placed under its first-ever Flash Flood Emergency on Friday morning, according to the network.

Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane near Perry, Florida, late Thursday, bringing devastating storm surge, severe winds, and heavy rain, according to The Weather Channel. There have reportedly been at least four people killed as a result of the storm, and approximately 4.2 million homes and businesses are without power.

Here’s a quick sampling of responses to the story, as seen on the social media platform X:

Jim Cantore could never…

— GeeGee (@LSUGeeGee) September 27, 2024

The good always shows itself during the worst of times. God Bless.

— SMH2 (@SMH2228) September 27, 2024

CNN Reporter: “Can you speak louder, Anderson? I can’t hear you over the screams.”

— Anthony Galli (@RallyWithGalli) September 27, 2024

I doubt a CNN reporter would do that.

— Playteaux (@Playteaux1) September 27, 2024

If it’s meant to be, it’s up to me. Good job, sir!

— Andre Shahveen (@AndreShahveen) September 27, 2024

And at the end the mind police come to tell you “what a heroic act, do you know you are never supposed to do something like that?!”… Anyone awake should understand where I am going with this.

— Bugseebee (@PureBloodedBugs) September 27, 2024

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Tom Tillison

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The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.

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