A model of the upper level of an underground shelter offered by Vivos, which offers 4,000 spaces for sale across the United States in which to survive nuclear bombs, asteroids and just about anything else Nostradamus or the Mayans may or may not have foreseen. (AFP Photo)
Washington. Worried about where to take refuge in case of an asteroid hitting the Earth, a nuclear attack or some other apocalyptic event?
A US business has the answer: an underground bunker equipped with all the modern comforts.
“You can’t predict, but you can prepare,” says the Web site of Vivos, which plans to sell 4,000 places in 20 nuclear-proof shelters, all on US territory. The cost of admission is $50,000, and children get half off. Pets are free.
“Sooner or later something is going to cause us to seek shelter,” said the company’s owner, Robert Vicino. “The threats are all around us.”
His business project merely offers a practical option, he said. “We are not promoting the fear, we are providing the solution, at least a viable one.”
The Web site features a countdown to the apocalypse supposedly forecast by Nostradamus and the Mayan calendar, noting the time left until Dec. 21, 2012.
And even if the world is not destined to end according to prophecy, Vivos carefully lists myriad other dire scenarios for prospective customers: solar flares, nuclear terrorism, volcanic eruptions, killer comets, magnetic-pole shifts, global tsunamis, and chemical or biological attacks.
“It’s really not about 2012, something could happen tomorrow or 20 years from now,” Vicino said.
He said the threat he fears the most is a US meltdown, “social and economic anarchy.”
Despite the potential dangers, both natural and man-made, only government leaders had a way of staying safe, he said.
A portion of the bunkers for sale include Cold War-era nuclear shelters that will be refurbished.
The bunkers will be designed to withstand outdoor temperatures of 700 degrees Celsius, winds of 700 kilometers an hour, flooding for 500 hours or a wave of earthquakes over magnitude 10. And the company promises the bunkers will have exercise equipment and an extensive wardrobe supplied with footwear “in all sizes.”
“As a co-owner of one of the Vivos shelters, you will only need to get there,” the Web site promises.
The first shelter, in the California desert near Barstow, will be ready in September. Vicino said “hundreds” of applications had already poured in, including inquiries from Europe.
But having the financial means will not be enough to win a place in the shelters. Vicino said the company was looking for a range of backgrounds and skills, to ensure a “self-sufficient” community. “We want a little bit of everything in there, like on Noah’s ark, so that they can assist each other.”
As for maintaining order, that should not present a problem, as about a third of the applicants come from police departments, private security firms or the US military.
Agence France-Presse
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