ATLANTA — A Georgia veteran is being praised after rescuing a woman stranded on top of her car during flash flooding on the Downtown Connector in Atlanta.

George Brathwaite said he and his wife, Chyna, were driving through downtown Atlanta on Wednesday to pick up their daughter when they encountered heavy traffic and rising water during rush hour.

“The first underpass we started seeing more traffic and I was like here we go,” he said. “I started realizing that people were merging on one side. Then I started seeing the water on our side. It wasn’t that bad and cars were still moving.”

But conditions quickly escalated.

“When we got to that underpass, we seen 75/85 north, it was a completely different situation,” he said. “That’s when we seen the girl sitting on top of her car in the middle of the highway.”

WSB Radio Meteorologist Christina Edwards said the storm stalled over I-75/I-85 and I-20 for nearly two hours Wednesday afternoon, producing more than 3 inches of rain.

Brathwaite said traffic was already being diverted, but the sight of the stranded woman changed everything.

“My wife was like baby go get her,” he said. “I’ve been with my wife for 12 years now, and when she tells me to do something I know to do it.”

He took the lyrics to the song “Wade in the Water” quite literally as he trekked through murky, waist-deep flood waters to rescue the stranded woman.

He said the decision to act was immediate.

“I don’t know what the reaction was, it was just do what I told you to do and follow your footsteps,” he said.

Advisory: Video contains strong language.

Brathwaite described the woman he rescued as visibly scared during the moment.

“She was pretty much nervous,” he said. “I could tell she was scared and didn’t know what to do for real.”

He said his military background took over as he moved through the flooded roadway.

“When you’re in the military and you got rank and someone with some rank tells you to do something, that’s what you do,” he said. “My wife got all the rank and when she tells me to do something, that’s what it was. It was fight or flight.”

Brathwaite said he served three years at Fort Carson in Colorado and completed a tour in Iraq before leaving the military as a disabled veteran.

He said he now lives in Georgia and has lived in the Atlanta area for years. Brathwaite said he suffers from PTSD and sarcoidosis, a pulmonary disease, which he continues to receive treatment for through the VA.

“I’m a disabled military veteran,” he said. “I suffer from PTSD and something called sarcoidosis. It’s a pulmonary disease. It’s very new to me. I still go back and forth to the VA and have appointments.”

Despite the conditions, he said he would act again without hesitation.

“As a military veteran, just to be able to be recognized for something that we did with the young lady is in me and I’ll do it all over again,” he said.

He said the woman he rescued was shaken but safe.

“She’s still a little shook up,” he recalled. “When I got to her, she was pretty quiet. I said I’m going to take you back. My name is George. I told her we’re going to be friends forever after this.”

The video of the rescue has since went viral, garnering more than 1.1 million views and more than 100,000 likes.

Brathwaite also emphasized the broader lesson from the experience.

“You’re obligated to help somebody,” he said. “Everything doesn’t have to be pull your phone out and record for social media.”

He said he had lived in Atlanta for more than eight years and said he has never seen flooding conditions like that before.

“I’ve never seen it do that ever,” he said. “It took two minutes. It only rained for 10 minutes or so.”

Brathwaite said even the median on the highway flooded deeply during the storm.

“Even the median, the grass part, it was up to my ankle,” he said. “I didn’t know if it was going to get deeper. It was so much water in the median.”

Brathwaite also joked that the city needs to address drainage issues before future major events in Atlanta.

“One thing I strongly believe the city needs to invest in is liquid Drano,” he said. “It’s got to be clogged up. Get some liquid Drano before the World Cup comes.”

He added that he appreciated the support he and his wife have received.

“I really appreciate everybody showing all this love to my wife and I,” he said.