Nairobians have been warning about the floods for years, but for Vella, the reality hit harder than words ever could. The city’s rising waters, which have already claimed lives in the past few days, became her nightmare on Friday.
“I’m usually the one complaining about the floods, never thinking I’d be a victim. But on Friday, I was right in the middle of it all,” Vella wrote on her Facebook page.
She was leaving Galleria when the rain started, growing heavier by the minute.
Determined to reach safety, she aimed for Raila Odinga Road or past Nyayo Stadium to get onto the Expressway. But at the RAO junction, hazard lights signaled trouble.
“Makosa,” she admitted. The water had breached unknown points, and even her bigger car could not push through.
Quick thinking led her to a nearby Shell gas station, hoping the situation would ease. Instead, the rain poured relentlessly, and the water rose fast. Within moments, her car was flooded. Panic set in as men nearby urged everyone out. “Maji is already past our waists. No safer grounds,” she recalled.
They disconnected car batteries as water mingled with fuel, creating a tense and slippery ordeal. Vella and others climbed onto a truck pickup, hoping for safety—but even it was flooded. Thunder rumbled, rain pounded, and hope dwindled over hours.
Eventually, they decided to wade through chest-high waters, dodging rubbles, fallen branches, and debris.
After a grueling struggle, Vella and her group reached Wilson Airport, exhausted and soaked.
“We just decided to drink because, who knows if we’d see tomorrow,” she said.
By dawn, relief arrived. Her mechanic Joackim and friend Yonga rescued her and ensured her car—the “blue gal”—was towed to safety.
Vella also visited a doctor, confirming that both she and her car, affectionately nicknamed Kosovo, were fine.
Reflecting on the ordeal, she credited her friends for saving her life. “Imagine if it weren’t for Joackim and Yonga, I wouldn’t have called anyone. Ni mbayaaaaaa…”