An off-duty New York firefighter sprang into action to rescue a school principal after her vehicle became completely submerged during a severe flash flood. 

First responder Travis Langan was recognized by Mayor Mamdani on May 22 for his heroic rescue of Carmen Pinto, who became trapped inside her Tesla after the vehicle malfunctioned as floodwaters rapidly rose around it. 

'This is a man whose first instinct is to help, to protect, to serve and to save. On Wednesday night, he made a split-second choice,' Mayor Mamdani said.

'Because of his bravery, Mrs Pinto will sit down to dinner with her family this evening,' he added.

On May 20 the firefighter spotted the Brooklyn public school principal trapped in her car on Queens’ Jackie Robinson Parkway as floodwaters surged. 

'It was a crazy night,' Langan said. 'I left work a little late. Flash floods came down. I'd never seen rain that hard. 

'As the rain poured and the water started to rise it filled her car and time was running out - she tried everything.

'She tried to open up her car door. She tried to bring down her windows. She tried calling 911. Nothing was working fast enough,' he said.

Langan heroically climbed onto the car and found Pinto with her face pressed against the sunroof glass.

The responder first struck the sunroof with his bare hand. After Pinto passed him a Yeti cup, he used it to break through the glass, creating an opening large enough to pull her from the flood-stricken car.

'Today, I am so happy and so blessed that I was sent an angel. Travis never thought of himself,' Pinto said of her hero.

'He could have just driven home to his pregnant wife and his beautiful daughters. But he stopped. 

'And he saw a situation. And he saw a way that he could help. And he didn't turn around to see if somebody else was going to step in.

'Without thinking of his own well-being, he punched a hole in my roof and rescued me,' she added.

Pinto quipped that because of him, she can see the New York Knicks play one more time, and go back to work.

'We have a real hero in town. Thank you, Travis, for saving my life,' Pinto said.

The Big Apple was hit with a deluge of rain that week, with Queens alone reporting a total of 2.57 in of rain.