As populations grow into cities across the globe, and increasing majority
of people will live in urban areas – places which quickly become very
desperate and vulnerable during a major crisis.
Every prepper knows the dangers of being stuck in a major metropolitan
city in the event of a major hurricane, a grid down scenario or civil unrest
and societal collapse.
In such a situation, as every
prepper knows, food, water and other vital resources will
quickly become scarce or unavailable. The gridlock of survivors trying to get
out, or get their hands on assets.
Increasingly, the Pentagon is looking at the likelihood – perhaps the
inevitability – of war/conflict inside of a destabilized or decimated
megacity urban center like New York.
According to the Daily Mail:
The Pentagon is calling for help from technological innovators to
take on the future of warfare.
In the program titled ‘Thunderstorm Spiral,’ the US government
solicits demonstrations to tackle the challenges of megacities and
underground environments, which will become increasingly prevalent
as populations continue to grow.
[…]
A megacity is defined as a city with more than 10 million
residents. To put this in perspective, there are currently over 8 million
people living in New York City.
As these numbers continue to grow within defined areas,
infrastructure will have to adapt, pushing megacities toward the development
of subterranean – or underground – environments.
In 2014, there were 23 megacities with ‘vast subterranean structures'; in
2025, it’s expected this number will reach 37.
To meet these needs, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for
Emerging Capability and Prototyping, Rapid Reaction Technology Office (RRTO)
Technology Demonstration Program is sponsoring the request for information
(RFI) issued by the Pentagon.
‘As the world’s population grows, the probability of the U.S.
needing to conduct combat and humanitarian assistance / disaster relief
(HA/DR) operations within a megacity (defined as a city with more than 10
million residents) also grows,’ the solicitation states.
[…]
The ‘desired capabilities’ in focus of the program include GPS
techniques for underground and dense urban environments along with
intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance sensors for use in tunnels.
As major American, Asian and European cities grow with extreme rapidity,
urban planners have been expanding large underground facilities.
Increasingly, it is not just subway systems, but shopping malls, parking
lots, utilities and perhaps even residential units that are being built
underground.
While this may be practical to facilitate crowded above-ground conditions,
it brings new dangers for populations who could be trapped underneath in the
event of a bombing, terrorist attack or major natural disaster.
Inadequate design to accommodate flooding and allow evacuation for people underground is perhaps
the biggest threat facing these quickly expanding facilities.
The United Nations University has studied
many of the disaster scenarios that could occur in underground spaces, noting
the rapid growth of underground facilities in mega-urban areas across the
world:
The rapid and extensive underground expansion of mega-cities – for
subways, malls, parking and public utilities – takes place often
with too little knowledge of associated risks and too few plans to minimize
the effects of a natural disaster, United Nations University experts warn.
With growing land pressures in cities (which contain about 50% of
all people today, seen rising to 65% by 2030), creating new space underground
becomes increasingly attractive. In many places, however, studies of
potential natural disaster risks are often neglected, says Srikantha Herath,
UNU Senior Academic Programme Officer.
While many underground shelters can withstand earthquakes and other
disruptions, flooding stands as one of the biggest and untested underground
disasters cities may face in the near future:
How This Man Converted “Underground Shelter Using a 20 Ft.
Shipping Container”
Elite Hiding in Bunkers to Escape War with China: “Intended
Survivors Are Moving Underground”
