Tunnel living is not limited to Nevada. Across California\u2019s Central Valley and its southern deserts, people unable to afford housing are retreating into caves and earthen tunnels<\/a>, often dug into flood control berms, riverbanks, or along drainage canals, where people can escape the heat and law enforcement. In San Antonio, homeless people have constructed tunnel encampments<\/a>, and in New York, homeless people have long retreated into subterranean existence in tunnels and defunct train corridors<\/a>.<\/p>\n In Las Vegas, some tunnel dwellers said they hide to avoid constant encampment sweeps, which have increased nationally<\/a> since the U.S. Supreme Court this year ruled<\/a> that local authorities have a right to enforce sleeping or camping bans in public spaces, even when no shelter or housing is available.<\/p>\n Others said they go down to escape the unbearable weather. Triple digits are common in the summer; this year, Las Vegas climbed as high as 120 degrees. And the tunnels provide protection when temperatures drop into the 30s in the winter. It even snows there.<\/p>\n Street medicine providers are also trying to persuade homeless people to leave the tunnels to receive care. In addition to more drug and alcohol use, they have seen new problems with wounds and skin disorders associated with the street drug known as \u201ctranq,\u201d slang for the animal tranquilizer xylazine, which is often mixed with fentanyl or meth.<\/p>\n Tranq causes deep skin infections that, left untreated, can lead to bone infections and require amputation.<\/p>\n Flanders, the homeless man in the tunnels, had several of these skin sores, which he referred to as spider bites \u2014 a euphemism for the deep skin wounds caused by tranq. He estimated he has been to the emergency room at least 10 times this year, several times requiring hospitalization.<\/p>\n \u201cOne time I was there for six days; I almost lost a finger,\u201d Flanders said, holding up the index finger that had been warped from a deep infection, as he started to tear up. Despite the risks, Flanders said, he still felt safer living in the tunnels than aboveground.<\/p>\n Las Vegas\u2019 population boom has contributed to rising housing costs. The market rent for southern Nevada rose 20% from 2022 to 2023, according to a Clark County homelessness report<\/a> \u2014 higher than the national average<\/a>.<\/p>\n As more people get displaced, more retreat underground. And often, outreach workers say, it\u2019s not just locals who can\u2019t afford the rising cost of living who wind up homeless, but also out-of-towners. Some come to make it in the city\u2019s booming entertainment industry, while others become homeless after losing it all at the casinos.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople come here on vacation to gamble or try and make it, and they lose everything,\u201d said Johnson, who works for Shine a Light, one of two organizations in Las Vegas that provide substantial outreach, housing referrals, and drug treatment services for homeless people in the tunnels.<\/p>\n \u201cThe housing market is insane; rents keep going up. A lot of people wind up down here,\u201d said Johnson, who lived in the tunnels until he got sober with help from Shine a Light. \u201cPeople just get stuck.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, Nevada\u2019s scorching heat<\/a> and rains and monsoons pose a major threat to those living in the tunnels, though it\u2019s unclear exactly how deadly life in them can be.<\/p>\n But Louis Lacey, homeless response director for the nonprofit Help of Southern Nevada, said homeless people living belowground put their lives at risk, often in the monsoon season when the tunnels flood. His organization coordinates with the city of Las Vegas and Clark County to get as many people as possible into shelters before the start of the rainy season, which typically runs<\/a> from June to September.<\/p>\n \u201cWe go into the tunnels to make sure people who want to get out are out, but not everyone leaves, often because they don\u2019t want to leave their belongings,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople die every year.\u201d<\/p>\n This article was produced by <\/em>KFF Health News<\/em><\/a>, which publishes <\/em>California Healthline<\/em><\/a>, an editorially independent service of the <\/em>California Health Care Foundation<\/em><\/a>.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n KFF Health News<\/a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF\u2014an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF<\/a>.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/esportslegendary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Tunnels_01-scaled.jpg\")
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