Let’s Dig (Back) Into the TikTok Tunnel Girl Drama
Kala has been digging a tunnel under her house in Fairfax County. She's maybe been ordered to vacate. As a former Fairfax County resident, I can’t look away.


Update (January 12): On Thursday, Aura Bogado, the investigative reporter who initially broke the news about Kala’s neighbors, posted that she uncovered a document issued by the town of Herndon on December 7 which states the town “has declared the structure and the residential structure an UNSAFE STRUCTURE” (emphasis theirs). Kala and any other occupants “are required to vacate the lower floor of the dwelling above the excavation and tunnel” until a licensed engineer can evaluate the project and say it’s safe. It’s unclear if she has actually done so, but in my mind, Kala will be Phantom-of-the-Opera-ing it down in that tunnel regardless of what the town of Herndon has to say. Original story below.
For over a year now TikTok has been transfixed by the story of Kala, aka Tunnel Girl, the woman who has been digging a tunnel under her suburban home. The 37-year-old posts regular updates of herself sawing through layers of dirt, constructing a DIY mine elevator, hand mixing concrete, and once told her 538.1K followers that she’s going to build a “castle tower” off the side of her house with the rocks she’s found. All this was background TikTok chatter to me until earlier this week, when Kala’s project was shut down by local authorities and I learned that Kala’s been constructing her tunnel in Fairfax County, Virginia–my hometown.
With my interest piqued, I decided to dig deeper into Kala’s story. This is what I unearthed.
@engineer.everything