A television reporter covers a hurricane live and rescues a woman from a submerged car

(AP) – A weather television reporter in Atlanta interrupted his live coverage of Hurricane Helene Friday to rescue a woman from a vehicle stranded by rising floodwaters.

FOX Weather meteorologist Bob Van Dillen stood in the rain with the submerged vehicle and described how the woman drove into a flooded area.

In the recordings, he said he called 911 and she could be heard screaming as he tried to reassure her that help was on the way.

He then told the camera: “It’s a situation. We will contact you shortly. I’ll see if I can help this lady out a little bit, guys.”

The footage shows Van Dillen wading through the water with the woman on his back.

He later said in an interview that he gave up everything to help.

“I pulled my wallet out of my pants, went in, waded in and got up to my chest,” Van Dillen said. “She was in there, she was still strapped in her car and the water actually rose and got into the car itself, so she was submerged almost up to her neck in her own car.”

Subramaniam Vincent, director of journalism and media ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, said this is an example of how the role of a reporter intersects with human responsibility.

Drone footage shows flooded streets in a neighborhood in Buckhead Township, north of Atlanta. (Source: CNN)

It’s clear that while he had a professional obligation to report the news, “there’s also someone whose potential life is in danger,” Vincent said. “So I think the call he made is a human call.”

Considering the rising water and the woman’s cries for help and not knowing when help would arrive, “it’s a simple case of stepping in – one fellow citizen actually helping another,” Vincent said.

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