Kala is a 37-year-old woman known as ‘Tunnel Girl’ on TikTok. She is most known for the underground tunnel system she built under her suburban home. This January, she was forced to stop her excavation by the town officials of Virginia.

Tunnel Girl’s posted her first-ever TikTok in October of 2022. In this video, she said her goal was to “construct a storm shelter off the side of my basement.” She later revealed that she wanted to do this project as a fun challenge more than a shelter to keep herself safe. More than a year has passed since her initial video, and Kala has yet to finish her tunnel.

For this reason, Kala decided to do all the hard work instead of hiring a construction crew or learning how to do it from a trained professional. Because Tunnel Girl’s username is @engineer, many of her followers were under the impression that her career had something to do with construction; this also caused many to believe she was capable of the construction in her home’s basement. Kala is a software engineer who can do tunnel work by watching YouTube videos to help her on her journey.

Using YouTube as her guide, Kala impressed many with her accomplishments. She posted an update video to TikTok in November of 2023, during which she talked about some complications she was undergoing while creating the tunnel. She stated she had dug so far she was “out of range of the minecart” because of this problem, “every castle building stone has to be carried up this tunnel to the chamber.” At the time, she reached groundwater at the end of the tunnel. She constructed a makeshift elevation, which collapsed. The elevator was created to carry heavy rocks and other minerals she acquired from the bottom of the tunnel beside her basement to the main floor, which leads outside.

She eventually took care of the groundwater problem and got her elevator to start working again. She also learned electrical skills as time went on so that she could bring light into her tunnel. Kala said, “The entrance tunnel goes down a deep incline 30 feet in and 10 feet down. The first chamber is 22 feet below grade and is approximately ten by 6 feet.” Kala was starting to take control of the complications within her tunnel, but the tunnel was too far to be a shelter anymore. People began to question the ability to carry on such a task.

According to The New York Times, Kala’s town issued a stop-work order to her. The article stated that “she has since submitted a permit application and blueprints to the town and is waiting to hear back.” There was an inspection of Tunnel Girl’s home on the 7th of December, and “the town is working with the property owner to correct any violations and ensure that the property is safe and in compliance with the code.” – written by an NBC article.

So, is this the end of Tunnel Girl? It’s hard to know whether she will continue her tunnel. She might continue off-camera if she gets found out and reported to her town officials again. You can learn more about her and the tunnel through her TikTok page @engineer everything.