Hurricane Matthew: Drone picture leads to rescue of man trapped by storm

A drone, a picture on social media, and some extreme luck were what it took to save a man’s life this weekend, when flood waters from former-Hurricane Matthew left him trapped in the attic of his house.

Drone operator and freelance filmmaker Quavas Hart said he was only a couple of miles away from the severe flooding in Hope Mills, North Carolina, and decided to put the drone out just to capture some footage when he saw a row of houses completely submerged.

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“So I back up, and get an aerial shot of all the houses on the block, and I tweet it on my Twitter,” he told Global News in a phone call.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "So I back up, and get an aerial shot of all the houses on the block, and I tweet it on my Twitter," he told Global News in a phone call.

The picture was posted to Instagram and Twitter along with the hashtag #HopeMills, which is when something incredible happened, Hart said.

Craig Williams, who lives in Texas, was worried about his brother Chris in Hope Mills.

He was scrolling through Twitter looking for posts tagged #HopeMills, when he found Hart’s picture. He sent the picture to his brother, trying to show that Chris could be in a worse situation. But that didn’t end up being the case.

“He tries to cheer his brother up saying ‘well at least this isn’t you,’ and it turns out it was him!” Hart said.

WATCH: More drone footage captures the extent of the flooding in North Carolina 

1:56 Drone footage shows two north Carolina communities almost underwater following Hurricane Matthew

Craig said Chris, who contacted him via Facebook messenger, had called 911 repeatedly throughout the morning but his calls weren’t going through, Craig wrote on a GoFundMe page for his brother. That’s when Craig thought to contact Hart directly.

“He makes contact with me and says we need you to go back down there and see if you can get my brother,” Hart said.

Hart dropped everything and sent the drone back out and saw Chris when he leaned out the window to wave to him.

Hart was planning on going out himself to find Chris, but flagged down a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) boat instead.

Hart sent his drone back up in the air and the boat followed it all the way to Chris, and his dog Lana.

The two met when the boat reached the end of the flooded area. Hart said it was great to meet him and to know he helped.

“I’m really glad you decided to answer,” Chris told WFMY news on Sunday.

“It was a humbling experience, you know I was just out there, flying the drone around and it ended up saving someone,” Hart said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It was a humbling experience, you know I was just out there, flying the drone around and it ended up saving someone," Hart said.