Sales of luxe doomsday bunkers up 1,000%
Sales of bomb shelters are surging as Americans fear chaos abroad will spread to the U.S.
By Blake Ellis, staff reporter
March 26, 2011: 08:02 PM EDT NEW YORK (CNNMoney) - A devastating earthquake strikes Japan. A massive tsunami kills thousands. Fears of a nuclear meltdown run rampant. Bloodshed and violence escalate in Libya.
And U.S. companies selling doomsday bunkers are seeing sales skyrocket anywhere from 20% to 1,000%.
Northwest Shelter Systems, which offers shelters ranging in price from $200,000 to $20 million, has seen sales surge 70% since the uprisings in the Middle East, with the Japanese earthquake only spurring further interest. In hard numbers, that's 12 shelters already booked when the company normally sells four shelters per year.
"Sales have gone through the roof, to the point where we are having trouble keeping up," said Northwest Shelter Systems owner Kevin Thompson.
UndergroundBombShelter.com, which sells portable shelters, bomb shelters and underground bunkers, has seen inquiries soar 400% since the Japanese earthquake. So far sales of its $9,500 nuclear biological chemical shelter tents are at an all-time high -- with four sold in California last week, compared to about one a month normally.
Hardened Structures said inquiries have shot up about 20% since the earthquake -- particularly for its apocalyptic 2012 shelters, radiation-protection tents, and nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) air filters.
Vivos, a company that sells rooms in 200-person doomsday bunkers, has received thousands of applications since the massive earthquake in Japan, with reservations spiking nearly 1,000% last week. And people are backing their fear with cash: A reservation requires a minimum deposit of $5,000.
"People are afraid of the earth-changing events and ripple effects of the earthquake, which led to tsunamis, the nuclear meltdown, and which will lead to radiation and health concerns," said Vivos CEO Robert Vicino. "Where it ends, I don't know. Does it lead to economic collapse? A true economic collapse would lead to anarchy, which could lead to 90% of the population being killed off."
The last time people flocked to purchase bunkers in such droves was right before the Y2K scare, according to Stephen O'Leary, an associate professor at University of Southern California and an expert on apocalyptic thinking.
"Tens of millions of people believe in a literal apocalypse, which involves earthquakes, storms, disasters of global proportions and especially disasters related to the Middle East," O'Leary said.
But, he added, "Some believe that this is just a turbulent time and they have to go somewhere to ride it out."
Elan Yadan, a clothing store owner in Los Angeles, is one of the many customers who rushed to find a bunker last week. Yadan secured a spot for his family in a Vivos' shelter, putting down four deposits totaling $20,000 -- $20,000 that had been earmarked for a down payment on a new house.
"I honestly didn't want to do it, but unfortunately it looks like the worst expectations about the world are starting to come true," said Yadan, who had been reading about Mayan predictions of a global meltdown in 2012. "With the things happening this week, it's better to be safe than sorry. And what good is a house if you don't feel safe?"
Yadan will be riding out any apocalypse in Vivos' most ambitious project to date. The company has more than five 200-person shelters in the U.S. that are in various stages of construction, but this facility outshines them all.
The bunker, which is being built under the grasslands of Nebraska, is 137,000 square feet -- bigger than a Wal-Mart -- can house 950 people for up to one year, and can withstand a 50 megaton blast. Once completed, it will boast four levels of individual suites, a medical and dental center, kitchens, bakery, prayer room, computer area, pool tables, pet kennels, a fully stocked wine cellar and a detention center to place anyone who turns violent.
Plus, there will be a fortified 350-foot lookout tower for residents who want to see what's happening in the outside world.
Once Vivos collects deposits from at least half the number of residents needed to fill the bunker, it will take them on a tour of the near-completed site. At that point, they must pay the rest of the $25,000 reservation fee.
That's what Yadan intends to do.
"I'm not a psychic but I'm not a scientist either, so I'd rather err on the side of caution -- and I'd rather survive and live in a bunker for a year than be wiped out," he said.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Japan in WROL
Our thoughts, prayers and condolences go out to the people of Japan. Many of them are truly experiencing a WROL situation and we need to learn from this tragedy how we can better prepare ourselves for such a disaster.
Concern about food, fuel in wake of Japan disasters
Sendai, Japan (CNN) -- Long lines at grocery stores and gas stations along with continued aftershocks and power outages greeted many in Japan on Sunday morning, nearly two days after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that left hundreds dead and missing.
Supplies of food and gas were running out in Sendai, the northern coastal city close to the epicenter of Friday's quake. Those who survived the earthquake and chose to remain in the city were enduring two-hour waits at the supermarket, according to a CNN iReporter in Sendai with the username joeyjenkins.
"They have waited for I don't even know how long to get gas, as the gas station manually pumps the gas since there is no electricity," joeyjenkins wrote, adding they were without power until early Sunday.
Schools and hospitals and Sendai have been turned into shelters, and volunteers were handing out bottles of water, CNN correspondent Kyung Lah reported from the city.
Fears of power outages in Tokyo, about 200 miles south, sparked a run on flashlights, said iReporter Jessica Tekawa, 26.
"I think last night, there must have been something on the news about a power outage," she told CNN, "because when we went, with my friend, we were trying to get flashlights and they were sold out everywhere."
Water, too, was sold out in every store she went to after similar reports of possible water contamination, she said.
Kenneth Cukier, the Japan correspondent for The Economist magazine, said the government announced managed power cuts will start Monday in certain regions of the country -- including suburban areas of Tokyo -- to give businesses enough power to operate.
A seemingly endless barrage of aftershocks from Friday's 8.9-magnitude quake was still rattling nerves Sunday. The U.S. Geological Survey reported more than 140 such quakes -- magnitude 4.5 and higher, with the strongest coming at a 6.4 -- in, near, or off the east coast of the Japanese island.
There have been "many aftershocks," said Yasue Schumaker, a Sendai native who now lives in Hawaii, but was visiting her mother in a Sendai hospital when the quake struck.
"The day it happened, it was constantly aftershock, and last night was better, but still we are having quite big ones," Schumaker said.
The aftershocks are a "constant reminder of what's happened, and what could happen in the future," Wall Street Journal reporter Yoree Koh told CNN from Tokyo.
Such aftershocks are also producing tremendous anxiety for earthquake survivors, reported CNN's Gary Tuchman, driving from the western coastal city of Shonai to Sendai in the east.
"People are wondering, could there be an aftershock that's greater than the original earthquake?" Tuchman said. "Each time you feel it, there's an element of fear."
The Japanese military was working in at least one neighborhood of Sendai on Sunday morning to search for anyone trapped in the rubble. "A few hundred" people were still unaccounted for in one part of town Sunday, Lah reported.
Search-and-rescue helicopters buzzed over Sendai as workers walked through the muddy streets wearing hard hats and carrying shovels. At least one person was winched by chopper from a damaged house.
The city was still littered with debris and standing water from the tsunami. Two to three miles inland, houses were destroyed or simply gone, cars were stacked on top of each other, and brown mud covered the ground, Lah said.
An iReporter with the username xeynon, who described himself as an American living and working in Sendai, said "there are still many friends and acquaintances living along the coast we have not been able to contact."
Schumaker, her voice quivering, said those people should be the priority.
"People who lost their homes, or the people who are still needing help, they are the ones who need help," she said. "We don't have any electric, water, gas, and the city just announced it could take 30 days to get gas set up for everybody. But we definitely need water and food, but please help the people who lost their homes and still ... on top of the buildings asking for help."
CNN's Mary Lynn Ryan and Ashley Hayes contributed to this report.
Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/12/japan.quake.scene/index.html?hpt=T1
Concern about food, fuel in wake of Japan disasters
Sendai, Japan (CNN) -- Long lines at grocery stores and gas stations along with continued aftershocks and power outages greeted many in Japan on Sunday morning, nearly two days after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that left hundreds dead and missing.
Supplies of food and gas were running out in Sendai, the northern coastal city close to the epicenter of Friday's quake. Those who survived the earthquake and chose to remain in the city were enduring two-hour waits at the supermarket, according to a CNN iReporter in Sendai with the username joeyjenkins.
"They have waited for I don't even know how long to get gas, as the gas station manually pumps the gas since there is no electricity," joeyjenkins wrote, adding they were without power until early Sunday.
Schools and hospitals and Sendai have been turned into shelters, and volunteers were handing out bottles of water, CNN correspondent Kyung Lah reported from the city.
Fears of power outages in Tokyo, about 200 miles south, sparked a run on flashlights, said iReporter Jessica Tekawa, 26.
"I think last night, there must have been something on the news about a power outage," she told CNN, "because when we went, with my friend, we were trying to get flashlights and they were sold out everywhere."
Water, too, was sold out in every store she went to after similar reports of possible water contamination, she said.
Kenneth Cukier, the Japan correspondent for The Economist magazine, said the government announced managed power cuts will start Monday in certain regions of the country -- including suburban areas of Tokyo -- to give businesses enough power to operate.
A seemingly endless barrage of aftershocks from Friday's 8.9-magnitude quake was still rattling nerves Sunday. The U.S. Geological Survey reported more than 140 such quakes -- magnitude 4.5 and higher, with the strongest coming at a 6.4 -- in, near, or off the east coast of the Japanese island.
There have been "many aftershocks," said Yasue Schumaker, a Sendai native who now lives in Hawaii, but was visiting her mother in a Sendai hospital when the quake struck.
"The day it happened, it was constantly aftershock, and last night was better, but still we are having quite big ones," Schumaker said.
The aftershocks are a "constant reminder of what's happened, and what could happen in the future," Wall Street Journal reporter Yoree Koh told CNN from Tokyo.
Such aftershocks are also producing tremendous anxiety for earthquake survivors, reported CNN's Gary Tuchman, driving from the western coastal city of Shonai to Sendai in the east.
"People are wondering, could there be an aftershock that's greater than the original earthquake?" Tuchman said. "Each time you feel it, there's an element of fear."
The Japanese military was working in at least one neighborhood of Sendai on Sunday morning to search for anyone trapped in the rubble. "A few hundred" people were still unaccounted for in one part of town Sunday, Lah reported.
Search-and-rescue helicopters buzzed over Sendai as workers walked through the muddy streets wearing hard hats and carrying shovels. At least one person was winched by chopper from a damaged house.
The city was still littered with debris and standing water from the tsunami. Two to three miles inland, houses were destroyed or simply gone, cars were stacked on top of each other, and brown mud covered the ground, Lah said.
An iReporter with the username xeynon, who described himself as an American living and working in Sendai, said "there are still many friends and acquaintances living along the coast we have not been able to contact."
Schumaker, her voice quivering, said those people should be the priority.
"People who lost their homes, or the people who are still needing help, they are the ones who need help," she said. "We don't have any electric, water, gas, and the city just announced it could take 30 days to get gas set up for everybody. But we definitely need water and food, but please help the people who lost their homes and still ... on top of the buildings asking for help."
CNN's Mary Lynn Ryan and Ashley Hayes contributed to this report.
Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/12/japan.quake.scene/index.html?hpt=T1
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)