(NewsNation) — TikTok’s “Tunnel Girl,” who went viral for building a tunnel system under her Virginia home, has been told to stop by local officials.
“Kala the Science Girl” amassed half a million followers as she documented the excavation of tunnels leading to a storm shelter. The TikToker has now been given a stop-work order for her elaborate project, over “potential violations.”
“Just been over a year since I started building my underground tunnel system,” Kala the Science Girl said in a video. “I’m planning to construct a storm shelter off the side of my basement.”
The task has entailed cutting through concrete, mining sediment, installing an elevator shaft to easily remove massive amounts of rock, pumping out water, installing electricity and dealing with setbacks like partial collapses and fires.
Her most popular video has garnered millions of views.
On Dec. 28, she shared a video that showed city officials visiting her and shutting down her dig.
“They did give me a stop work order and are requiring an immediate evaluation by a professional engineer,” she told viewers.
“Fortunately, contrary to rumors here, it is constructed entirely below the slab of my house and it shouldn’t be too hard to get the permits and approval.”
A town spokesperson said in a statement that officials are “working with the property owner to correct any violations and ensure that the property is safe and in compliance with the code,” Fox5 confirmed.
While she doesn’t have formal training as an engineer, the TikToker has worked in IT and studied engineering handbooks and a FEMA manual on building shelters and safe rooms for the project, she told NBC in an interview.
Kala the Science Girl has been captivating her followers since 2022, when she first outlined her plan to cut a hole in her basement and carve into the foundation’s rock to construct an elevator to lift building materials.
Since then, she has constructed a full-fledged suburban mine. In a video set to medieval tavern music, she says it is allowing her to mine stone for a future construction project.
Kala hasn’t posted any new TikToks since being ordered to pause work, but the #tunnelgirl hashtag has over 41 million views, with fans still invested in her project.