Stunning footage captured the moment a Fox News weatherman interrupted his live broadcast to rescue a woman trapped in her car by deadly Hurricane Helene.
Weather reporter Bob Van Dillen sprang into action as he was filing a live report in northern Atlanta, Georgia, where Helene tore through on Friday morning after making landfall in Florida hours earlier.
Van Dillen began by pointing out the stranded woman 'drove right into the flood waters', and she could be heard screaming for help as he told the studio he had dialed 911 and was waiting for the fire department.
As the screams continued through his broadcast, Van Dillen cut his live shot short to wade in and help the woman, with Fox anchors in the studio branding him a 'hero' as he carried her to safety in chest-deep waters.
It came after Hurricane Helene made landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida's Gulf Coast as a Category 4 storm overnight, leaving a trail of destruction in its path stretching across several states.
Fox Weather reporter Bob Van Dillen sprang into action as he was filing a live report in northern Atlanta, Georgia, to rescue a woman trapped in her car by Hurricane Helene
Van Dillen cut his broadcast short as the stranded woman screamed for help, and was branded a 'hero' by anchors in the studio as he carried her to safety in chest-deep waters
Van Dillen returned to the air after saving the woman and said he waded into the floodwaters because he lost faith that 911 firefighters would rescue her in time.
'It's hard not to, because 911 have so many calls,' he said as he returned to Fox and Friends. 'They're going to take a long time to get here, but the fire department finally did get here.'
The weatherman said that when he first approached the woman, she was 'panicking' and 'wasn't really making too much sense.'
'She was still had the seat buckle on. And she had her window about this much down and she's trying to talk to me through that,' he continued.
'So, I'm trying to open up the door and the water pressure wasn't allowing me to do it,' he said, explaining that the woman had to let water into her car so he could save her.
'(The water was) up to my chest and there's a little bit of a current, but she was a short lady too, she was probably about five feet.'
He concluded: 'I think the panic factor was setting in. And when you start to panic and you're in water and it starts getting cold, you can really, things could really go downhill quickly. So, I just - I couldn't wait.'
Powerful waves and rain battered the Florida coastline, with stunning footage showing cars being deluged by the weather system as they raced to evacuate
Flooded streets seen near Atlanta, Goergia, where Van Dillen saved the woman live on TV
Helene brought widespread flooding to the southeast overnight, seen in Tarpon Springs, FLA
A man rescues his dog from the storm surge in Florida on Thursday night
At least nineteen people have been killed so far - with seven deaths coming in Florida, eleven in Georgia, and one in North Carolina.
These deaths included a sign falling on one driver on a Tampa highway, two people drowning in coastal Pinellas County, and a four-year-old girl lost her life in a weather-related crash in North Carolina.
As Helene made landfall in Florida and forced mass evacuations, forecasters warned residents across the southeast to brace for a 'nightmare.'
Helene roared ashore around 11:10pm CDT with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph, battering the coast with torrential rain and bringing widespread destruction.
The weather system prompted hurricane and flash flood warnings extending far beyond the Florida coast up into northern Georgia and western North Carolina.
On Friday morning, more than 3 million homes and businesses were without power, including 1.2 million in South Carolina, 1.1 million in Florida, 1 million in Georgia, and 400,000 in North Carolina, according to the tracking site poweroutage.us.
The governors of those states, as well as Alabama and Virginia, all declared emergencies.
'When Floridians wake up tomorrow morning, we're going to be waking up to a state where very likely there's been additional loss of life and certainly there's going to be loss of property,' Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a news conference Thursday night.
By early Friday, Helene was downgraded to a Category 1 storm as it moved past Georgia, after leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. The full scale of the damage is yet to be assessed as residents return to evacuated areas.
The powerful storm ripped up a roadway in Cedar Key, Florida
Homes and buildings have been partially submerged after the storm brough widespread flooding and destruction
A stranded family wades through floodwaters after Hurricane Helene blew through Chrystal River, Florida overnight
The eye of the weather system hit an area of Florida's Gulf Coast just 20 miles northwest of where Hurricane Idalia came ashore last year at nearly the same ferocity.
Helene was moving rapidly inland after making landfall, with the center of the storm set to race from southern to northern Georgia through early Friday morning.
The risk of tornadoes also would continue overnight and into the morning across north and central Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and southern North Carolina, forecasters said.
'Helene continues to produce catastrophic winds that are now pushing into southern Georgia,' the hurricane center said in an update at 1 a.m. Friday.
'Persons should not leave their shelters and remain in place through the passage of these life-threatening conditions.'
The weather system hit the Big Bend area of Florida's Gulf Coast around 11:10pm CDT with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph
The hurricane registered at a category 4 when it struck the Florida coast (pictured), before it downgraded to category 1 by the time it moved into Georgia
After many residents in the Gulf of Florida evacuated, those that chose to remain were left stranded early on Friday morning. Pictured: Locals rescued from floodwaters in Crystal River, Florida
Marine deputies prepare for a rescue as Hurricane Helene approaches in Fort Myers Beach, Florida, U.S., September 26, 2024
Even before landfall, the storm's wrath was felt widely, with sustained tropical storm-force winds and hurricane-force gusts along Florida's west coast.
Water lapped over a road in Siesta Key near Sarasota and covered some intersections in St. Pete Beach. Lumber and other debris from a fire in Cedar Key a week ago crashed ashore in the rising water.
Beyond Florida, up to 10 inches of rain had fallen in the North Carolina mountains, with up to 14 inches more possible before the deluge ends, setting the stage for flooding that forecasters warned could be worse than anything seen in the past century.
Heavy rains began falling and winds were picking up earlier Thursday in Valdosta, Georgia, near the Florida state line.
The weather service said more than a dozen Georgia counties could see hurricane-force winds exceeding 110 mph (177 kph).
In south Georgia, two people were killed when a possible tornado struck a mobile home on Thursday night, Wheeler County Sheriff Randy Rigdon told WMAZ-TV. Wheeler County is about 70 miles southeast of Macon.
The storm made landfall in the sparsely-populated Big Bend area, home to fishing villages and vacation hideaways where Florida's Panhandle and peninsula meet.
In an unsettling post on Facebook, the sheriff's office in rural Taylor County warned residents who had not evacuated: 'Please write your name, birthday, and important information on your arm or leg in a PERMANENT MARKER so that you can be identified and family notified.'
Some who chose to remain in their homes watched on as waves climbed their windows and floodwater surged into their houses
A man's house narrowly avoids being smashed by a fallen tree in Florida
A U.S. Coast Guard Air Station crew rescues a man and his dog during Hurricane Helene after his sailboat became disabled and started taking on water off Sanibel Island, Florida, U.S. September 26, 2024
Satellite image shows Hurricane Helene churning through the Gulf of Florida, U.S., September 26, 202
A man crosses a flooded Fourth Street N at 54th Avenue N in the wake of Hurricane Helene early in the morning of Sept. 27, 2024 in St. Petersburg. Florida
Hurricane Helene explodes into a monster Category 4 as frightening radar image shows its lightening-filled eye barreling toward Florida
Still, Philip Tooke, a commercial fisherman who took over the business his father founded near the region's Apalachee Bay, planned to ride out this storm like he did during Hurricane Michael and the others - on his boat.
'If I lose that, I don't have anything,' Tooke said.
Michael, a Category 5 storm, all but destroyed one town, fractured thousands of homes and businesses and caused some $25 billion in damage when it struck the Florida Panhandle in 2018.
Many, though, were heeding the mandatory evacuation orders that stretched from the Panhandle south along the Gulf Coast in low-lying areas around Tallahassee, Gainesville, Cedar Key, Lake City, Tampa and Sarasota.
Among them were Cindy Waymon and her husband, who went to a shelter in Tallahassee after securing their home and packing medications, snacks and drinks. They wanted to stay safe given the magnitude of the storm, she said.
'This is the first time we've actually come to a shelter, because of the complexities of the storm and the uncertainties,' she said.
Federal authorities staged search-and-rescue teams as the weather service forecast storm surges of up to 20 feet and warned they could be particularly 'catastrophic and unsurvivable' in Apalachee Bay.
'Please, please, please take any evacuation orders seriously!' the office said, describing the surge scenario as 'a nightmare.'
People are splashed by churning surf from Tampa Bay as Hurricane Helene passes offshore on September 26, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Florida
Florida weather map, Hurricane Helene, September 26, 2024
Amber Hardin, 27, spends time with her dog Ducky while taking shelter from Hurricane Helene at Leon High School near downtown Tallahassee
Floridians wait for the arrival of Hurricane Helene at Lincoln High School which was opened as a shelter in Tallahassee, Florida, U.S., September 26, 2024
Youtuber Mark Peyton holds a US flag as he poses for his brother Matt Peyton on the shoreline ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Helene in Alligator Point, Florida, on September 26, 2024
Residents wade through a street flooded in the passing of Hurricane Helene, in Batabano, Mayabeque province, Cuba, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024
Locals stand outside their homes in a flooded area of Batabano, Mayabeque Province, Cuba, on September 26, 2024
This stretch of Florida known as the Forgotten Coast has been largely spared by the widespread condo development and commercialization that dominates so many of Florida's beach communities.
The region is loved for its natural wonders - the vast stretches of salt marshes, tidal pools and barrier islands.
'You live down here, you run the risk of losing everything to a bad storm,' said Anthony Godwin, who lives about a half-mile from the water in the coastal town of Panacea, as he stopped for gas before heading west toward his sister's house in Pensacola.
School districts and multiple universities canceled classes. Airports in Tampa, Tallahassee and Clearwater were closed Thursday, while cancellations were widespread elsewhere in Florida and beyond.
While Helene will likely weaken as it moves inland, damaging winds and heavy rain were expected to extend to the southern Appalachian Mountains, where landslides were possible, forecasters said. Tennessee was among the states expected to get drenched.
Helene had swamped parts of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Wednesday, flooding streets and toppling trees as it passed offshore and brushed the resort city of Cancun.
In western Cuba, Helene knocked out power to more than 200,000 homes and businesses as it brushed past the island.
Areas 100 miles north of the Georgia-Florida line expected hurricane conditions. The state opened its parks to evacuees and their pets, including horses.
Overnight curfews were imposed in many cities and counties in south Georgia.
'This is one of the biggest storms we've ever had,' said Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.
For Atlanta, Helene could be the worst strike on a major Southern inland city in 35 years, said University of Georgia meteorology professor Marshall Shepherd.
Helene is the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted an above-average Atlantic hurricane season this year because of record-warm ocean temperatures.
