It may have fallen off the blink-and-miss-it media firestorm, but the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami is still causing a lot of grief for victims and people still living in public shelters. As I wrote a few weeks ago, the situation is dire:
In the months that follow, there will certainly be a need for portable shelters in Japan. As the water flows back into the oceans and rivers, homes will be hard to come by, seeing as thousands will have to be rebuilt. Also, with the uncertainty concerning nuclear reactors and radiation, many people will have to make do with portable buildings and portable shelters where they have ended up.
The need for portable shelters in Japan is obvious, but the implications on the portable shelter and bunker market have skyrocketed over in the Middle East as well, where tensions have been rising over numerous leadership conflicts. According to an article in Realty and Investments, the market has been nothing but rising in the last quarter:
“More home owners are considering adding a bunker to their backyard. The 9.0 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear crisis in Japan as well as the tensions in the Middle East have prompted doomsday bunker sales to skyrocket, as much as 1,000 percent in some cases. When it comes to bunkers, there are plenty of options to choose from too — from reserving your spot in a giant warehouse-sized building that even has medical facilities to luxury, nuclear-safe tents.”
One such portable shelter company has actually seen its sales rise by 70 percent on shelters from $200,000 to $20 million. The interest that has risen towards portable shelters and bunkers hasn’t been seen since the Cold War and even the Red Scare in the United States. The threat of nuclear warfare at the time was significantly heightened, causing many to purchase bomb shelters and the like.
The important thing to remember is that portable shelters and portable buildings will be needed more and more frequently in Japan in the upcoming months and even years.