Sahara Avenue | September 11, 2012 | 2:21 p.m.

I’ve covered a lot of flooding over the years, but I never imagined I’d photograph my first swift water rescue on Sahara Avenue. Through a series of events (okay, I forgot some stuff at home), I found myself in my Winchester neighborhood about the time two rainstorms converged. While slowly making my way in stop-and-roll traffic on Sahara, I watched as two girls crossed the street in front of Kmart. As they hit the rapidly moving water near the curb, one of the girls lost her balance and fell, getting swept 10 yards down the street before she was able to grab onto a tree. She couldn’t pull herself out, but a good Samaritan stopped his truck and helped her out of two and a half feet of deceptively dangerous water.