Amid the US and Israel's strikes on Iran since 28/2, and Tehran's retaliatory attacks across the Middle East, Ron Hubbard's Texas-based bomb shelter company has seen a surge in demand. Most customers are from Gulf countries such as Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

"Can you imagine how many people are thinking, 'I wish I had a bomb shelter'?", Hubbard, 63, shared at the Atlas Survival Shelters office on 7/3.

"Interest and demand for this product are truly at an all-time high, something I have never seen before," he said, adding that the company's order phones have been ringing constantly since the conflict erupted.

Beyond foreign clients, Americans are also concerned as Iranian missiles strike US targets in the Middle East and domestic violence increases. A customer in Florida recently called Hubbard to inquire about a shelter for 10 people. The photo shows Hubbard standing among shelters in the workshop's warehouse in Texas on 7/3.

A basic shelter, installed under a garden, can accommodate 4 people for up to one week and protect them from bomb blasts and radiation, costing about 25,000 USD. More sophisticated models, designed for multi-year stays, can cost millions of USD, depending on the stored food, energy, and water supplies.

"Prices depend on whether they are preparing for the apocalypse or simply for a missile barrage, like what Israelis often face," Hubbard stated.

His shelters can be constructed with concrete directly on-site or fabricated from metal at the workshop in Sulphur Springs, then transported to the customer's location.

"A nuclear shelter only needs to be about one meter deep, as the earth and concrete layer above will protect you from gamma rays," Hubbard explained. He typically builds shelters 2-3 meters underground to shield them from artillery fire.

Depending on the budget, the interior can resemble a small apartment with a living room, tivi, bedroom, kitchen, laundry area, and bathroom. Some models even include a weapon storage room.

Hubbard showcased the company's shelter installation process.

These shelters feature fully sealed main doors and a decontamination room, where people can shower after entering from a contaminated environment.

The shelters connect to a power source and have a water storage and filtration system. In case of a power outage, the shelter's ventilation system can be operated manually with a hand crank, similar to a classic car.

In Hubbard's factory yard, about 20 shelters resembling steel containers are ready for shipment to customers in the US. 40 other orders are currently in production. The white shelter shown in the photo is a tornado shelter.

"I expect sales in the next two months to surpass the total of the previous three years. However, it will likely take me two to three years to produce all the shelters I sell in just these two months," he said.

Escape tunnels are stacked in the Texas factory.

Atlas also licenses its technology to foreign companies and dispatches expert teams from the US to supervise construction. Hubbard keeps his client list confidential, but some celebrities, such as Andrew Tate and YouTuber MrBeast, have publicly disclosed purchasing shelters from him.

A laser cutter at the Atlas factory in Texas.

In 2021, Hubbard participated in a television show with Kim Kardashian to build a shelter for her villa in California. According to Hubbard, tech billionaire Mark Zuckerberg also commissioned a shelter design from him, which a local contractor later assembled.

"To those who said, 'only crazy Americans buy bomb shelters': they are not saying that anymore because they are seeing places like Dubai being bombed daily," Hubbard stated. "Especially when the global future is very grim."

Hong Hanh (Photo: AFP)