by Scott Walker 

In the West Coast area, much like New York on the East, thousands of homeless live in the underground tunnels of the city they call home. The tunnels were made to transport flood waters away from the population to prevent death and destruction. However, the same tunnels used to prevent death can also cause death.

One man (above) I spoke to in Las Vegas told me, "We have seen bodies floating out of the tunnels when they flood."

There are about 200 miles of underground tunnels in Las Vegas, Nevada. Originally, the goal was to build 1,000 miles of tunnels to whisk flood waters away from the casinos. The 1,000 miles never happened and so they became dwellings for the struggling, the mentally ill and the homeless.

As we talked more about the tunnels he explained that it makes more sense for him, his girlfriend and dogs to live just outside and above the flood-ways.

At age 21 and recently discharged from the U.S. Army, he has goals in front of him. He stated, "I want to help people, that's what I want to do." Starting a nonprofit to help people where they are as opposed to where some groups want them, is something he highlighted.

The man who lives just above the flood line of the passage outside of a tunnel looked towards the littered water and described it as, “A beautiful disaster."

Before I turned to walk away he stated, "I would advise you don't go into the tunnel, some never come out." He then talked about the almost obscene levels of mental illness below the streets.

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