A reporter for an ABC affiliate in Houston was about to do a live shot Monday of a flooded roadway when a man drove straight into the deep water, prompting him to lend a hand when it was clear the driver was struggling to swim away from his sinking car.
The reporter, KTRK’s Steve Campion, offered his commentary the entire time.
Campion first offered a warning to the driver as water surrounded his car, yelling, “Dude, you’ve got to get out of the car. You’ve got to get out!”
The driver, seemingly confused, asked the TV crew what he should do.
“Swim!” Campion suggested. “Leave the car—swim!”
The driver, perhaps not hearing clearly, asked if he should stay in his car.
“Leave the car, swim!” Campion repeated.
As the driver started to swim, Campion got in the water himself and walked the man to dry land.
“I didn’t see it,” the driver said, turning around to look at his newly submerged vehicle. “My car is under.”
“You’ve gotta leave the car,” Campion responded.
Watch the rescue below:
h/t: jalopnik.com
Houston floods in a heavy dew, because it’s flat, it’s all paved over, and it has terrible drainage. This sort of nonsense happens at least once a year. At least.
And every year, people act like it’s never happened before. Kudos to the reporter for stepping in, but his initial reaction – “why are you doing that?” – was exactly right.
Interfering in the process of natural selection exacts a price.
Holy shit you can see him putting it in reverse like he’s going to back out. Man he really seems disoriented. Wonder if that was from some kind of shock or is he off his meds or on some meds he shouldn’t be on.
“Despite all this heavy rain and seasonal flooding issues it never occurred to me the roads might be flooded. Thank god you were here!”
Not dealing with climate change and shortchanging our failing infrastructure has its cost.
Too bad Texas doesn’t get that because Houston really is a world-class city.