Good fences make good neighbors. Unfortunately for some neighbors, a fence won’t help them because their neighbor is digging a massive tunnel under her home, possibly endangering the entire block to a sinkhole. Naturally, she’s been documenting her dig on TikTok, but you knew that in your heart already.
Since October 2022, a woman named Kala has been documenting her absolutely bizarre mission to build a long bunker under her home. Her goal is to make it 30 feet long and 20 feet deep. Since she believes so strongly in herself, even if a building inspector or all of OSHA would not, she made this goal with no professional qualifications to dig said tunnel. Adding to the weirdness, she goes by the TikTok handle “@engineer.everything,” making you think, on the surface, she might actually be a civil engineer, but I’d like to relieve you of that misconception right now.
On her bunker that is definitely not a doomsday bunker, but a fun little activity bunker, Kala had this to say:
“I wouldn’t say doomsday bunker, because I’m not really a prepper or concerned about that kind of thing at all, but I just thought it would be neat to have like a little protective shelter area,” Kala said in an interview. “And so I started working on that. And also it’s a challenge and I live for challenges. It keeps me preoccupied and keeps me entertained.”
NBC News
Now, I am very much a live-and-let-live type of person. However, it’s highly likely the fool building a massive tunnel with no qualifications to do so, under her home, most likely would not let her neighbors live, when the inevitable happens and the massive hole collapses. But don’t worry! Kala “crowdsourced” the issues she ran into while building her tunnel via social media followers that claimed to be actual civil engineers. Definitely a legitimate thing to do when building a massive tunnel under your neighborhood.
In a pull quote that very well could have been from the CEO and pilot of the doomed Titan submersible, Kala has this to say on safety:
“I wouldn’t say that I’m concerned about safety or structural stability,” she said. “For the most part, 99.9%, everything has gone according to plan and according to my engineering. There have been a few very, very minor mishaps.”
NBC News
Oh well, if the software engineer building a massive tunnel that is NOT a doomsday prepper bunker under her home isn’t concerned, I guess we’re good, right?! (By the way, a fire broke out in her tunnel in July, but that’s a totally normal thing to happen, right?)
According to NBC News, Kala claims she is following all regulatory laws and codes in order to build her tunnel, but declined to get into specifics. Definitely inspires confidence, right?
You know who is worried about the safety of her bonkers DIY project? The government. She was ordered to cease digging until further notice last month. Obviously, she is unfazed because she is an unaccredited, uh, hobbyist who is building a massive tunnel under her home:
“They did give me a stop work order and are requiring an immediate evaluation by a professional engineer,” Kala the Science Girl told her followers in a video.
WUSA
Now, let’s talk about her neighbors, specifically the horrifying dynamic this situation that is presented between Kala, a white woman, and the neighborhood she’s digging in, which has multiple migrant households:
Here is the linked TikTok from journalist Aura Bogado:
If you didn’t watch, it’s a confirmation that Kala lives in a predominantly migrant neighborhood and is more than likely taking advantage of the situation by subjecting her neighbors to noise pollution and actual air pollution through her asinine efforts. So this woman—who the video explains loves Trump (ha, were you surprised?)—would have no qualms about inflicting her buffonery (and possible sinkhole) on these people. The whole thing is just gross.
Again, this feels like the Titan all over again. An entitled white person with more hubris than common sense is doing something the actual experts in the field think is a terrible idea. Much like the Titan, when it all comes crashing down (quite literally), it could take out the people in the surrounding area. Let’s hope the long arm of government bureaucracy and red tape steps in and saves the day. Her neighbors deserve at least that.
(featured image: Warner Bros.)
