Subterranea: Meet The Homeless People Who Live In The Hidden Flood Tunnels Beneath Las Vegas

Next time you are in Vegas try to remember the words from one of the seven principles of Hermeticism, "As above, so below", which broadly means that by studying one thing we can learn about something else. So while you are having fun, spending your money and trying to make more in the city of excess, spare a thought about this article and what might be occurring below you. It's guaranteed to kill your buzz.

Beneath the neon shimmer of Las Vegas is a network of flood control tunnels, but rather than lying empty this subterranean labyrinth is home to the destitute of Las Vegas, as many people who can't afford to live above have taken refuge below.

Las Vegas writer Matthew O'Brien is a specialist on the tunnels and the people who live there, writing a book on their plight called Beneath the Neon back in 2007. In the short documentary above O'Brien, who's now a regular visitor to the tunnels, heads down there for the Seeker Stories YouTube channel.

While there he introduces us to the people who live down there, some of them on and off for the last 20 years, and hear first hand the hardships they suffer and the stories of why they've come to be there.

You can donate or volunteer to help the homeless of the tunnels here.

Photos: Florian Buettner