America’s Doomsday Bunkers



Far into the unforeseeable future, when nuclear war and biological warfare has decimated the human population, killed most living beings and irradiated the earth with radioactive fallout, a small population of 5,000 in a remote underground shelter in southwestern South Dakota will be one of the few surviving pockets of civilization scattered throughout America — at least that’s the plan of a California-based survival company called Vivos. The company acquired the 18-square-mile complex called Black Hills Ordinance Depot in 2016 and retrofitted it with state-of-the-art amenities such as an internal power generation system; deep water wells; biological, chemical and radiation air filtration systems; sewage discharge; and critical support equipment. The complex contains over 500 nuclear-hardened concrete military bunkers, partially buried underground and protected by thick berms of earth, to resist a surface blast wave, as well as radioactive fallout. The property is strategically located in one of the safest areas of North America. Each bunker can withstand 500,000 pounds of internal blast, and can hold 10-24 people and needed supplies for a year or more. Bunkers are separated from each other by an average of 400 feet in all directions. Families can now lease the bunkers to be used as shelters in the wake of a catastrophic event, such as a nuclear war, a viral pandemic or an asteroid strike at one-time upfront payment of $25,000 per bunker, plus a 99-year lease of $1,000 per year. Shared bunkers are also available at $7,500 per person.