When Bernard Jones Jr. and his wife, Doris, created their ideal home, they did not hold back. A grotto swimming pool with a waterfall for those hot summer days. A home theater for warm winter nights. A fruit orchard for the fall harvest. In addition, there is a large underground bunker in case of tragedy.
“The world’s not becoming a safer place,” he complained. “We wanted to be prepared.”
Under a plain metal hatch near the private basketball court, there is a concealed stairway that leads down into rooms with beds for roughly 25 people, restrooms, and two kitchens, all powered by a self-sufficient energy source.
They felt prepared for any tragedy, including a nuclear blast, in their idyllic home in California’s Inland Empire, which provided water, electricity, clean air, and food.
“If there was a nuclear attack, would you prefer go into your living room or a bunker? “If you had one, you’d go there as well,” said Jones, who reluctantly sold the house two years ago.
Global security chiefs are warning that nuclear risks are on the rise, as weapons spending increased to $91.4 billion last year. At the same time, global sales of private bunkers are increasing, ranging from modest metal boxes to lavish underground mansions.
Critics argue that these shelters give the impression that a nuclear war is survivable. They believe that those who intend to survive an atomic blast are not paying attention to the real and existing risks posed by nuclear threats, as well as the vital need to stop the spread of weapons of mass destruction.
Meanwhile, government catastrophe specialists claim bunkers are unnecessary. The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s 100-page guidance on responding to a nuclear detonation emphasizes the need of getting inside and staying inside, preferably in a basement and away from outside walls for at least a day. According to FEMA, existing spaces can provide protection against radioactive fallout.
Buyers are increasingly saying that bunkers provide a sense of security. According to BlueWeave Consulting’s market research report, the market for bomb and fallout shelters in the United States is expected to expand from $137 million last year to $175 million in 2030. According to the research, important growth causes include “the rising threat of nuclear or terrorist attacks, or civil unrest.”
Building bunkers.
“People are nervous, and they want a safe haven for their families. And they take the mindset that it’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it,” said Atlas Survival Shelters CEO Ron Hubbard, amid showers of sparks and the loud buzz of welding at his bunker factory in Sulphur Springs, Texas, which he claims is the world’s largest.
Hubbard stated that COVID lockdowns, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the advent of the Israel-Hamas war have boosted sales.
Hubbard said his phone rang continually on November 21, only hours after Russia launched its first hypersonic ballistic missile attack on Ukraine.
Four callers purchased bunkers in one day, he added, and others ordered doors and other components for shelters they were already building.
Hubbard stated that his bunkers are designed for all disasters.
“They’re good for anything from a tornado, a hurricane, nuclear fallout, a pandemic, or even a volcano erupting,” he said, sweeping his arms toward a vast warehouse where over 50 distinct bunkers were being built.
Hubbard founded his company after creating his own bunker roughly ten years ago, with a loaded shotgun at arm’s length and metal mesh window shields to prevent Molotov cocktails from flying nearby. He adds callers inquire about pricing ranging from $20,000 to multimillions, with an average of $500,000, as well as installations, which can take place almost anyplace. He stated that he sells at least one bunker per day.
Under Hubbard’s doomsday scenario, global tensions could lead to World War III, which he is willing to live through.
“The good news about nuclear warfare,” he told me, “if there ever was any, that it’s very survivable if you’re not killed in the initial blast.”
Experts in disaster preparedness for the United States government agree with him.
“You want to go to your most robust building”
“Look, this fallout exposure is entirely preventable because it occurs after the detonation,” said Brooke Buddemeier, a radiation safety specialist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where the United States government develops nuclear weapons. Buddemeier and his colleagues are tasked with determining what might happen following an attack and how to best survive. “There will be a rather evident nuclear explosive event, with a massive cloud. So simply staying inside, away from where those particles fall, will keep you and your family safe.”
Buddemeier and others in the US government are attempting to teach Americans on how to respond to nuclear attacks, after decades of hiding beneath desks during exercises.
After a lethal and thunderous blast, a brilliant flash, and a mushroom cloud, it will take about 15 minutes for anyone a mile or more distant from ground zero to receive radioactive fallout, according to Michael Dillon, a scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
“It will literally be sand falling on your head, and you’ll want to get out of there. “You want to go to your most sturdy building,” he explained. In their forecasts, they predict that individuals will need to stay indoors for a day or two before escaping.