WATCH: Fox Weather Reporter Rescues Motorist Trapped In Vehicle During Hurricane Helene

Fox Weather reporter Bob Van Dillen went from covering Hurricane Helene to being a part of the rescue efforts as he dived into flooded waters to help a motorist that was in danger of drowning.

As Van Dillen was live on air covering the storm, a woman had driven into a rising flooded street and began screaming for help. The Fox Weather reporter had already called 911 to alert them that someone needed assistance immediately, but as the woman started panicking more, the Fox Weather reporter stopped his broadcast and went and rescued her!

Afterwords, Van Dillen spoke with Fox and Friends about his heroic rescue that occurred during his live television hit. 

"I know that we're swamped here with all the 911 calls because there are so many high water rescues that we've been documenting. And I called 911, and it was 5 minutes, 10 minutes, and you could hear [the motorist] screaming during my live shot… So I said, I realized I was on the air, but I couldn't let it go, so I dropped everything, I took my wallet out of my pants and I went in about chest deep [of water]."

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"I was concerned about a real swift current, but the current really wasn't that bad, but then the water temperature I was afraid of too."

"That being said, the water came up to about my chest. She was still strapped into her car and she was about neck deep submerged in her own car [when I got there to rescue her]," the Fox Weather meteorologist continued.

Bob then went on to explain how he instructed the woman on how to get out of the car before he actually put the motorist on his back and carried her out!

Eventually, emergency responders showed up and saw that the situation was resolved and quickly moved on to assist the next person in need.

Hurricane Helene hit landfall as a Category 4  storm late last night but has since lessened to a tropical storm, however millions remain without power and authorities are urging everyone to continue to treat the situation in a serious manner.  

Written by
Mike “Gunz” Gunzelman has been involved in the sports and media industry for over a decade. He’s also a risk taker - the first time he ever had sushi was from a Duane Reade in Penn Station in NYC.