An Atlanta, Georgia police officer rescued a driver stranded in his partially submerged sedan during a severe flash flood Thursday, according to WTXL.
Bodycam footage shows the police officer breaking the driver side window with his baton and pulling the driver out the sedan feet first, the local outlet reported.
The incident occurred near Atlanta’s Public Safety Headquarters. A Fire Rescue Department Captain was reportedly already at the scene trying to rescue the driver before the officer arrived. But the rising water caused the sedan to start floating and made it difficult to open the doors, per the outlet.
Authorities say there was a significant influx of emergency calls and responders had to act quickly, WTXL noted. (RELATED: Video Shows Florida Deputy Pulled Beneath Floodwaters During Rescue Of Drowning Man)
The Atlanta Police Department said in a Facebook post, “We are extremely proud of the actions of Atlanta Fire Rescue Captain Terrance Simon and Atlanta Police Officer Rayando Bryan.”
The flooding was caused by heavy rainfall. Many regions of Atlanta had “about three-hours worth of rain” within just minutes, according to Fox 5 Storm Team.
Over Labor Day weekend, a series of intense monsoon floods hit Las Vegas, Nevada, leading to the death of a 13-year-old boy. Two days of heavy rainfall shut down many sections of Interstate 15, stranded dozens of vehicles in mud, and left the city nearly unrecognizable.
In July, a flash flood in Bucks County, Pennsylvania killed five people. Emergency responders managed to rescue ten people in total, pulling eight from their vehicles and two out of a creek.