Ron Hubbard's phone has been ringing non-stop since the start of the war in the Middle East. "Do you want a bomb shelter or a tornado shelter?", asks the Texas entrepreneur. "I want to order a bomb shelter for 10 people", replies the client from Florida, in the southeastern United States.
"We have seen a sharp increase in demand since the start of the Iran war, especially in the Gulf countries," says Hubbard, who is 63. "Ironically, we opened an office in Dubai on February 26, 48 hours before the war began. This solution was ideal and allows us to respond to demand, "says the company's boss.
In Sulphur Springs, a small town in Texas, Ron Hubbard's company "Atlas Survival Shelters" has already received orders from Qatar, Pakistan and Dubai. In Dubai, a customer has even ordered a shelter that could allow him to survive for five years.
And although Donald Trump assures that the American offensive against Iran will be short, people are looking for shelter in the constant shelling.
"The demand for this type of product is the highest right now. "I've never seen anything like it before," Hubbard says.
To meet demand in foreign markets, the company licenses local companies, and when a contract is signed, some staff go on site to supervise the work, which helps keep costs down.
But demand isn't just coming from countries under fire. It's also growing in the United States.
In the factory yard, about two dozen shelters, shaped like steel containers, are ready to be shipped. Forty more are in the works, and Ron Hubbard believes that in the next two months alone, his company could generate revenue that is three times higher than the revenue of the last three years.
Ron Hubbard's company is currently working on a bunker for influencer Andrew Theis, has produced a bunker for YouTuber and philanthropist Mr. Beast, another for Kim Kardashian, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has also ordered one. But they all placed their orders before the Iran war began.
A basic shelter designed to hold four people underground in their backyard for a week and withstand bombing and radiation costs about $25,000.
More advanced models designed to survive for years can cost several million dollars, depending on food, energy and water supplies.
"It depends on whether you're preparing for the end of the world or Armageddon, or if you're preparing for a hail of missiles, like most Israelis are," says Hubbard, who says he builds shelters for all eventualities.
The structures can be built from concrete directly on site, or fabricated from metal in a Texas factory and then shipped to customers.
"A radiation shelter can be buried only a meter deep. It's not the shelter itself that protects you from radiation, it's the ground and concrete that cover it," Hubbard explains.
"But I prefer to go as deep as possible, two or three meters underground, in case there's artillery fire," he adds.
The shelters have a sealed main passage and a disinfection room where people can take a shower if they've been exposed to a contaminated environment.
Depending on the budget, the interior of the shelter can be similar to an apartment - a living room with a TV, a bedroom, a kitchen, a laundry room, a bathroom. Some shelters also include a weapons storage room.
The idea is for the shelter to be connected to a power source, have backup batteries and a generator, be able to collect and filter water, and have wireless internet.
In the event of a power outage, the bunker's ventilation system can be manually activated using a crank.
"No one thinks anyone who needs a bomb shelter is crazy anymore, especially given the uncertain future that awaits us," says Ron Hubbard.
Translated from French: Gabriela Golemanska, BTA