By Joe Saunders September 27, 2024 at 3:37pm
A Fox Weather meteorologist went from covering the story to being the story as Hurricane Helen roared over Georgia Friday.
During a live standup report before sunrise, meteorologist Bob Van Dillen witnessed a woman trapped by the swollen waters of Atlanta’s Peachtree Creek, according to WAGA-TV.
After first reassuring the woman that he had called 911 and that rescuers were on their way, Van Dillen took matters into his own hands — and onto his own back.
“It’s a situation,” he said on the air. “I’m going to go see if I can help this lady out a little bit more, you guys. I’ll be back.”
Wading into the waters brought by the deadly storm, he carried the woman from her vehicle to safety.
The video is below:
HEROIC RESCUE: @foxweather meteorologist rushes to save a woman from rising floodwaters as deadly Helene slams Southeast. pic.twitter.com/Nv9tvtFJoF
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 27, 2024
“I just put the microphone down and called 911,” Van Dillen told WAGA. “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.”
As the video shows, Van Dillen’s height — 6-1, according to WAGA — was a decided advantage in the situation.
The woman he rescued is considerably shorter, as the video shows. And there were other factors.
“The water is like 80 degrees. It’s not cold, but I’m freezing right now,” Van Dillen told WAGA. “She was sitting in there by herself, strapped into her car. So I know she was cold.”
In the aftermath, Van Dillen’s colleagues at “Fox & Friends” were in open awe of his actions in the face of the hurricane, which made landfall in Florida on Thursday.
Fox News Weather Meteorologist, @BobVanDillen, on his heroic rescue: pic.twitter.com/u1NAF7qGLz
— Eddie (@Eddies_X) September 27, 2024
“We could hear her screaming, screaming her head off during your live shot,” “Fox & Friends” co-host Steve Doocy said. “And eventually … the water was rising, so you had to do something.”
“That’s the type of guy Bob Van Dillen is,” Fox meteorologist Janice Dean said. “I’ve known Bob for probably 15 years. So don’t be humble, my friend.”
As for the woman he saved, all apparently ended well.
“Her husband picked her up, and she’s all good,” Van Dillen said, according to WAGA.
And Van Dillen’s reputation is even better.
Joe has spent more than 30 years as a reporter, copy editor and metro desk editor in newsrooms in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Florida. He’s been with Liftable Media since 2015.
Joe has spent more than 30 years as a reporter, copy editor and metro editor in newsrooms in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Florida. He’s been with Liftable Media since 2015. Largely a product of Catholic schools, who discovered Ayn Rand in college, Joe is a lifelong newspaperman who learned enough about the trade to be skeptical of every word ever written. He was also lucky enough to have a job that didn’t need a printing press to do it.
Birthplace
Philadelphia
Nationality
American
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