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Georgia veteran rescues woman stranded on roof of car during major Atlanta floods on Downtown Connector
The dramatic rescue on the Downtown Connector near Baker Street was captured on video as floodwaters rapidly rose along Interstate 75/85.
ATLANTA — A military veteran is being praised after rescuing a woman stranded on top of her car as flash flooding turned parts of downtown Atlanta into fast-moving rivers.
The dramatic rescue on the Downtown Connector near Baker Street was captured on video as floodwaters rapidly rose along Interstate 75/85.
George Brathwaite said he and his wife, Chyna, were not even supposed to be on the connector when they spotted the woman sitting on top of her vehicle surrounded by water.
“We see her just sitting in the middle of the street like that,” George Brathwaite said. “I had no choice but to pull over.”
As the woman waited for help, video showed Brathwaite carefully walking through the rushing water before carrying her to safety on his back.
“My heart and God … we both seen the girl on top of the car,” Chyna Brathwaite said. “I told him that if he wouldn’t go get her, I was gonna go get her.”
Even in the middle of the rescue, George Brathwaite said he tried to calm the woman down by talking with her as they crossed the flooded roadway.
“‘You cool with getting on my back?’” he recalled asking her. “I said, ‘Hey, my name is George. So what’s your name?’ Just trying to start a conversation walking across, but she was stuck. She was scared.”
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Brathwaite joked that he initially hesitated because he was wearing a new pair of sneakers.
“I just had some brand new Forces on,” he said. “So I really didn’t want to get them messed up. But once I got to her, you could feel it shaking. She was scared.”
The woman was taken to safety and waited inside the couple’s truck until Georgia State Patrol arrived.
“It was a relief once she got over by us, and she kept thanking us,” Chyna Brathwaite said.
The couple, who said they have lived in Atlanta for eight years, said they have never seen flooding this severe in the city.
“Something clogged up. They need some Drano, that’s what they need,” George Brathwaite said.
Brathwaite served in the military from 2009 to 2013 and completed a tour in Iraq. He said helping someone in danger was an easy decision.
“Help somebody,” he said. “More people riding by just looking at them. Help somebody, man. I ain’t do this for clout. … You help somebody.”
