A TV weather reporter in Atlanta interrupted his live shot about Hurricane Helene on Friday to rescue a woman from a vehicle stranded by rising floodwaters.
In video of the rescue, standing in the rain with the submerged vehicle behind him, FOX Weather meteorologist Bob Van Dillen describes how the woman drove into a flooded area.
He says he called 911, and she can be heard screaming as he tries to assure her that help is on the way. Then he says to the camera: “It’s a situation. We’ll get back to you in a little bit. I’m going to see if I can help this lady out a little bit more, you guys.”
Meteorologist Bob Van Dillen rescues a woman Friday from floodwaters caused by Hurricane Helene in Atlanta.
Van Dillen then is seen wading through the water with the woman on his back, carrying her to safety.
Later, in an interview, he said he dropped everything to help.
“I took my wallet out of my pants, and I went in there, waded in, got chest deep,” Van Dillen said. “She was in there, she was still strapped into her car and the water was actually rising and getting up into the car itself, so she was about, almost neck deep submerged 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 was an example of a reporter’s role intersecting with human responsibility.
It’s clear that while he had a professional obligation to report the news, “there’s also someone whose potential life is at risk,” Vincent said. “So I think the call he made is a human call.”
Considering the rising waters and the woman’s cries for help, along with not knowing when help would arrive, “it’s a straightforward case of jumping in — a fellow citizen actually helping another,” Vincent said.
Photos: Hurricane Helene inundates the southeastern US
Thomas Chaves, left, and Vinny Almeida walk through floodwaters Friday from Hurricane Helene in an attempt to reach Chaves's mother's house in the Shore Acres neighborhood of St. Petersburg, Fla. Authorities were trying to get a handle on the storm's extreme swath of destruction, which stretched across Florida, Georgia and much of the southeastern U.S., leaving at least 30 people dead in four states and millions without power.
Workers clear debris Friday in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Cedar Key, Fla. Tangled piles of nail-spiked lumber and displaced boats littered the streets. A house lay crushed under a fern-covered oak tree toppled by the winds.
This GOES-16 GeoColor satellite image taken at 5:46 p.m. EDT and provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows Hurricane Helene in the Gulf of Mexico moving towards Florida, Thursday, Sept. 26 2024. (NOAA via AP) The Category 4 hurricane had maximum sustained winds of 140 mph (225 kph) and made landfall late Thursday where Florida's Panhandle and peninsula meet, a rural region home to fishing villages and vacation hideaways.
Residents are rescued from floodwaters Friday in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Crystal River, Fla. Residents waded or paddled through ruddy floodwaters, hoping to find their loved ones safe, and rescue crews used fan boats to evacuate stranded people in bathrobes or wrapped in blankets.
A Citrus County firefighter carries 11-year-old Michael Cribbins while conducting rescues in floodwaters Friday in Crystal River, Fla., after Hurricane Helene.
Halle Brooks kayaks Friday down a street flooded by Hurricane Helene in the Shore Acres neighborhood of St. Petersburg, Fla. The damage reached much farther. Hospitals in southern Georgia were left without electricity as officials warned of severe damage to the power grid, and streets in Atlanta plunged into reddish-brown water. In Tennessee, dozens of people were rescued from a hospital roof, and authorities ordered the evacuation of downtown Newport, a city of about 7,000 residents, due to the “catastrophic failure” of a dam.
Faith Cotto comforts her mother, Nancy, as they look at the remnants of their home Friday in the Shore Acres neighborhood of St. Petersburg, Fla. The house burned during flooding from Hurricane Helene.
A man and his dog are rescued Thursday after his sailboat became disabled during Hurricane Helene approximately 25 miles off Sanibel Island, Fla.
A boat rests on a street Friday after being relocated during flooding caused by Hurricane Helene in Hudson, Fla. It was the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted an above-average season this year because of record-warm ocean temperatures.
A person looks over a flooded street due to Hurricane Helene late Thursday in New Port Richey, Fla.
A patron looks at flooding Friday from Hurricane Helene in the Paces neighborhood of Atlanta.
A partially submerged vehicle sits in floodwater Friday after Hurricane Helene passed in Atlanta.
An American flag sits in floodwaters Friday in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in the Shore Acres neighborhood of St. Petersburg, Fla. Floodwaters inundated cars and buildings, and the winds ripped off the roofs of businesses, houses and churches.
Bradley Tennant looks through his house Friday flooded with water from Hurricane Helene in the Shore Acres neighborhood of St. Petersburg, Fla.
The business Chez What is seen Friday after Hurricane Helene moved through Valdosta, Ga.
Workers remove debris Friday in Cedar Key, Fla., in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
Nate Martir, a law enforcement officer from the Florida Fish Wildlife and Conservation Commission, holds an American flag that was lying on the ground amid debris, while patrolling Friday in a high-water-capable swamp buggy in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Cedar Key, Fla.
Clarissa Lucky gives a tour of her home Friday that flooded from Hurricane Helene near DeSoto Park, Fla., in Tampa.
A damaged 100-year-old home is seen Friday in Valdosta, Ga., after an oak tree landed on it during Hurricane Helene.
Jamir Lewis wades through floodwaters Friday with his daughters, Nylah and Aria, in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Crystal River, Fla.
People and pets are rescued from flooded neighborhoods Friday in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Crystal River, Fla.
An airboat transports residents rescued from floodwaters Friday in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Crystal River, Fla.
A person walks past building foundations along the water Friday in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Cedar Key, Fla.
Jennifer Lange, center, walks amid the destruction in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
John Taylor puts up an American flag on his destroyed property in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Volunteers from convoyofhope.org wait for fellow volunteers before they open a food distribution operation in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, in Perry, Fla., Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Chae Tillman fills fuel containers Saturday at a gas station in Adell, Ga., in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
Dennis Johnson cleans out debris from his mother-in-law's heavily damaged home in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Dustin Bentley, center kisses his wife Jennifer Bentley, left, after retrieving family photos from their flood damaged home as his mother Janet Sams looks on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Newport, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
