Selling shelter
Ron Hubbard, owner of Atlas Survival Shelters, sits in the escape tunnel of a 33-foot corrugated metal underground shelter that his company assembles at his small plant in Montebello. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)
Ron Hubbard demonstrates how to manually pump air into a 25-foot underground shelter with five beds. The shelter has been upgraded with an oak interior finish. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)
Ron Hubbard adjusts the pillows in a two-bedroom, 33-foot shelter. His shelters offer such necessities as microwave ovens, space for a year’s worth of provisions and high-grade air filtration. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)
A worker welds the ends of a 40-foot shelter at Atlas Survival Shelters in Montebello. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)
Ron Hubbard stands in an empty 10-foot by 40-foot corrugated metal tube at his factory in Montebello. It will be turned into a shelter that sleeps six. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)