During live coverage of Tropical Storm Helene in Atlanta, Georgia, on Friday morning, Fox News Weather reporter Bob Van Dillen interrupted the broadcast after he heard a woman screaming for help.
Van Dillen began his report for “Fox & Friends” in North Atlanta just after 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time when he heard a woman crying for help behind him. The woman could be heard on the broadcast screaming for help just as Van Dillen was reporting on the scene.
The Fox Weather reporter initially told viewers that he had called 911 to get help, as he was also heard trying to reassure the trapped woman that help was on the way. However, he soon realized that she was in need of his help immediately.
“You can see right here, this lady drove into the area that’s flooded out, and she’s screaming right now. I just called 911,” Van Dillen said.
“She is still screaming,” he added before turning around to tell the woman: “We got you. 911 [is] coming. You’re good. You’re good.”
.@BobVanDillen Fox News Weather Meteorologist, stops his live weather report to rescue a woman screaming for help after her car got swamped by a flash flood. #Hero #Helene #Atlanta pic.twitter.com/eeh2EBIE6Q
— Eddie (@Eddies_X) September 27, 2024
Listening to her continued cries for help, Van Dillen told the “Fox & Friends” hosts that he was going to help her himself.
As the show turned the camera back to Van Dillen, he was seen carrying the woman on his back through the chest-high water.
“Fox Weather’s Bob Van Dillen saved a woman trapped in a car. Look at that!” Fox News anchor Steve Doocy said.
“That guy is a hero!” Doocy added.
After he successfully rescued the woman, the Fox Weather meteorologist stepped back in front of the camera, where he was asked about his heroism. Van Dillen explained that the water level had been rising too high, causing the trapped woman to be “almost neck deep submerged in her own car.”
“I realized I’m with you guys, I’m on the air, but I can’t let it go,” he added. “I dropped everything, and I took my wallet out of my pants and went in there, waded in about chest deep.”
“She’s fine. She was in shock, she was cold, shivering, so I gave her one of my shirts,” Van Dillen continued before explaining that the woman was warming up in one of the Fox Weather vehicles while she waited for her husband to pick her up.
“Fox & Friends host Janice Dean then jumped in to say: “That’s the type of guy Bob Van Dillen is. I’ve known Bob for probably 15 years. So don’t be humble, my friend. I was not surprised at all when you took off your gear and on live television said, ‘I’ve got to go do something.’”
Fox News Weather Meteorologist, @BobVanDillen, on his heroic rescue: pic.twitter.com/u1NAF7qGLz
— Eddie (@Eddies_X) September 27, 2024
This heroic on-air rescue came as Tropical Storm Helene slammed into northern Florida as a Category 4 hurricane on Thursday night and began moving northward toward Georgia as a tropical storm.
