They say you can be anything you want in the world today. And this 37-year-old Virginia woman took that very seriously. Her name is Kala, and she has been working on a tunnel project beneath her property since 2022.
Even though she does not have any qualifications for that sort of work. The tunnel system is 22 feet below her house and has made her famous on Tiktok. However, the town of Herndon has ordered her to halt any progress on the project.
The order is to remain active until she obtains the necessary permits for such a large-scale operation. In a video from December 28, Kala confirmed that she received a stop work order. Apparently, her project needed “an immediate evaluation by a professional engineer.”
“Fortunately, contrary to rumors here, it is constructed entirely below the slab of my house, and it shouldn’t be too hard to get the permits and approval,” she said.
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Kala’s project has caught the attention of many netizens. And she has amassed a following of more than 530,000 on TikTok. Reports claim her most popular uploads have millions of views. However, it does not seem to be the main reason behind her desire to build a tunnel.
“It’s kind of crazy. Kind of funny, not going to lie,” one neighbor said about the endeavor. “But definitely, I have some concerns with whatever she is doing and, like, the area around us is soil and whatnot. Just making sure she’s not damaging the properties around.”
Another neighbor called Kala, a recluse who mostly kept to herself. “It’s concerning during the day that there’s a lot of noise being made,” he said, adding that the noise was not enough to get him to call the cops.
However, the man was “a little concerned” about her lack of safety measures, worrying her recklessness could ultimately affect lives.
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Kala started filming her work in 2022. Her videos capture her stacking cinder blocks, moving dirt, and welding metal in her dimly illuminated tunnel. Her most popular video on Tiktok is a “recap” of her past year of work, which racked up over 7.5 million views.
The thumbnail was a picture of her standing at the mouth of the tunnel with the caption: “Should I go deeper?” Many of her videos have been flagged by TikTok with a warning discouraging viewers from trying what she is doing without professional supervision or know-how.
Even though she tags herself an “engineer” on social media, Kala has no license to back that up. She is a graduate of business and finance and works in information technology. Two fields far from her latest hobby.
According to reports, Kala has spent over $50,000 on the 30-foot-long tunnel to date, earning the “Tunnel Girl” moniker in the process. Of course, she doesn’t only have fans. There are netizens who have criticized her for what they say is a reckless endeavor.
“Imagine your house collapses because of your neighbor digging a freaking underground trench system,” one viewer wrote. Another asked: “Why would you NOT get the permits beforehand for such a massive project?”
The town of Herndon’s statement about the issue says that they “received notice that activity in potential violation of the Uniform Statewide Building Code was occurring at a residential property within the town’s corporate limits.”
Representatives from the building officials’ and zoning administrators’ offices have conducted a site inspection since December 7. They are now working with Kala “to correct any violations and ensure that the property is safe and in compliance with the code.”
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