There’s nothing like a global pandemic combined with threat of a nuclear war to propel interest in fallout shelters and bunkers. “Honestly, I’ve never seen anything like this in my life,” Ron Hubbard, a builder of survival shelters in Texas, tells Global News.
Hubbard’s business, Atlas Survival Shelters, is busier than ever, he says. Just a few weeks ago he was fielding quotes and requests for information on his product every one or two minutes.
Hubbard and others in the industry say they’ve noticed a dramatic upward trend in civilians worldwide requesting alternative shelters and fortified homes. Read more: The Ark Two, Canada’s largest private bunker, has lost its Noah Brian Camden, owner of Hardened Structures in Virginia, says he’s been fielding about 150 per cent more inquiries since Russia invaded Ukraine at the end of February. “We were at capacity before the Ukrainian invasion, but now business has just gone nuts,” he told Global News.
Rather than offer an underground steel bunker, like Hubbard, Camden’s company tends to build large vacation-style homes that are also ballistic rated, off-grid capable, sustainable, and often contain an underground, concrete shelter.