Reporter Leads Rescuers To Truck Driver Trapped In 10 Feet Of Water

Severe flooding in Houston stranded a truck driver in 10 feet of water on Sunday.

As the water began to seep into his cab, a local news team covering Hurricane Harvey spotted him and offered assistance. 

Reporter Brandi Smith and photographer Mario Sandoval of KHOU 11 were the only members of their news station on the air when they saw the truck driver, named Robert, in need of rescue. KHOU had been forced to evacuate their building due to flooding.

In a video posted to Twitter, Smith and Sandoval were standing on Beltway 8 at the Hardy Toll Road when a Harris County sheriff water rescue team drove by towing a boat. Smith flagged down the officers and told them about the stranded driver.

The deputy sheriffs then navigated their rescue boat toward the stranded truck and pulled the driver to safety. When KHOU’s feed cut out during the rescue effort, Smith shared footage from the scene on Facebook and Twitter. The video below showed the driver safely exiting the truck around the 4:40 mark.

Smith and the driver embraced once he was out of harm’s way. 

“I just thank God that you guys were right here to get me and put me back on land safely,” Robert said to the news and rescue crews. “I appreciate you.”

Smith reported that a truck driver died during a flood in the same location last year. 

A CNN crew in Dickinson, Texas also helped stranded individuals get to safety.

Reporter Ed Lavandera and his crew were covering Hurricane Harvey on a volunteer rescue boat. They were about to leave the area when a woman flagged them down and said she and her elderly parents were stuck inside their home. The CNN crew assisted the volunteers in pulling the trapped individuals to safety.

• This article originally appeared on HuffPost.