Tropical Storm Ophelia continues to hit the East Coast. On Saturday, North Carolina police officers rescued a dog left tied to a fence during storm-related flooding “inches away from drowning,” local law enforcement officials said.

Greenville Police Department (GPD) spokesman Benjamin Schultz rescued the tiny pit dog from flooding on Dunbrook Drive in Greenville, about 90 miles inland in Pitt County. The flooding brought by Ophelia swept through Greenville, and videos have surfaced on social media showing its extent throughout the city.

A video posted by Greenville police on their Facebook page shows a dog tied to a fence as floodwaters reached knee level. Schultz unties the dog and carries it through the flood waters.

Ophelia formed as a cyclone over the Atlantic Ocean earlier in the week and is forecast to bring a month’s worth of rainfall to the eastern U.S. At approximately 6:15 a.m. ET on Saturday, “Ophelia” landed in North Carolina near Emerald Isle. A state of emergency has been declared in North Carolina, Maryland, and Virginia due to high winds and severe flooding.

State police officials, while calling Schultz a “true hero” who threw himself into the water to save the dog, added in a Facebook post that the dog would not have survived if a “good Samaritan” had not called and reported the incident.

” Thank you to the good samaritan who reported what happened! Without you, he would not have survived,” police wrote.

City police told Newsweek on Saturday that Schultz declined to be interviewed, citing the department’s animal welfare division as the cause of the investigation.

” Thanks to the quick action of a good Samaritan who reported the incident to police, he was thankfully unhurt,” the city’s police told Newsweek. ” The Animal Welfare Unit is conducting further investigation to determine the dog’s condition and the home’s conditions. Appropriate charges will be filed at a later date.”

According to the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC), Ophelia brought sustained winds of about 70 miles per hour. Although the hurricane has weakened, forecasters still urge people to be cautious.

Numerous roads in Greenville were closed Saturday due to flooding, city police wrote in a separate Facebook post, asking people to stay off the streets.

Videos posted on X, formerly Twitter, show flooding throughout the city.

For example, one video posted by AccuWeather storm rescuer Aaron Rigsby shows cars partially submerged in water in a flooded parking lot.

” Major flooding in Greenville, NC continues,” Rigsby wrote. “Several vehicles swept a considerable distance away, and the entire #NCwx #The Ophelia parking lot flooded.”

Ophelia’s current route takes it through coastal North Carolina and Virginia. It is expected to pass over parts of Maryland and Delaware. In addition, heavy rains brought by “Ophelia” are scheduled in New York and New Jersey. The NHC predicts that “Ophelia” will pass over southern New Jersey by Sunday evening before re-entering the Atlantic Ocean.

For an update on Ophelia’s trajectory and forecast, Newsweek emailed the NWS Saturday night.