Kala (born 1985 or 1986) is an American TikToker known for her content surrounding the excavation of a tunnel under her house.[1] Her content has been compared to fellow TikToker Nick Tobler, who flooded an area of his basement for pet eels.[1]

Biography

Kala studied business and finance in college.[1] After graduating, she entered the information technology field as a software engineer.[1][2]

She bought a two-story home in Herndon, Virginia in 2010.[2][3] She previously built a two-story addition at the back of her house, with a basement and subbasement underneath.[1][2]

Tunnel construction

In August 2022, Kala began construction on a storm shelter in her basement.[4] To prepare, she studied FEMA shelter guidelines and a civil engineering book titled Rock Mass Classification — A Practical Approach in Civil Engineering.[1] She began posting to TikTok about her tunnel construction in October 2022, telling viewers she was undertaking the project to challenge herself.[1][5]

Kala's followers initially consisted primarily of electricians and mining and civil engineers.[1]

In the course of excavating under her home, Kala also found building stones, which she began to mine and save for later projects.[1] By August 2023, Kala had begun referring to the project as an "underground tunnel system",[5] and had built a makeshift elevator to remove rock and dirt from the tunnel.[2] Around the same time, her content had begun to reach more users, who expressed concerns about the safety and legality of her project.[5]

By November 2023, she had accumulated 330,000 TikTok followers.[1] At the time, she said she had spent about $50,000 on the project.[1] Although Kala had undertaken the majority of work herself, her friends also occasionally helped.[1]

On December 7, 2023, the tunnel was inspected by local building authorities.[3] In late December, concern continued to spread online regarding whether the tunnel could negatively impact Kala's neighbors.[5] On December 31, Kala announced on her TikTok that city officials had told her to halt construction.[5] She reassured her viewers that she would cooperate with a mandatory evaluation by an engineer, and would continue to pursue proper permitting.[5] At the time, she had more than 500,000 followers.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Tolentino, Daysia (2023-11-14). "This woman is building a tunnel under her house and documenting it. TikTok users have questions". NBC News. Retrieved 2024-01-06.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Olivo, Antonio (2024-01-04). "'Tunnel girl' gets heart emojis, sneers over mining project beneath Va. home". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2024-01-06.
  3. 1 2 3 Zheng, Lili (2024-01-02). "Virginia officials inspect TikTok tunnel girl's viral project". FOX 5 DC. Retrieved 2024-01-06.
  4. ↑ Shouse, Meghan (2023-10-13). "Why Is This Woman Building a Secret Tunnel System Under Her Home?". House Beautiful. Retrieved 2024-01-06.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bergman, Sirena. "How Tunnel Girl's DIY storm shelter took over TikTok — then turned people against her". Business Insider. Retrieved 2024-01-06.
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