Dale Trusdale of Thurmond, West Virginia emerged from his Y2K bunker after 22 years.  A former coal miner, Dale has spent the last 22 years, 11 months, and a day underground in his bunker. The 68-year-old man had originally built the bunker to protect himself due to the Y2K computer bug. He told reporters that he had been stockpiling food and supplies since the beginning of 1999 when he first heard of Y2K.

As part of his preparation, Trusdale installed a water tank with an above-ground rainwater collection system. He installed 2 1,500-gallon septic tanks for waste. He also stockpiled 16,742 cans of spaghettios, 2 cans per day according to Trusdale.

“I’m not crazy,” said Dale Trusdale during an interview with The Seekonk Reporter. “I just like to be prepared for anything. My neighbor James Fogarty was supposed to give me the all-clear if things didnt go sideways, but he couldn’t find the hatch. The only reason I came up is that I ran out of them there spaghettios, I was going to either die of starvation or face the other side of the hatch. I choose to take my chances outside.”

James said Trusdale had mentioned he was going underground because of Y2K, and he was glad to see him go. “I’ve never really liked Dale, and I was seeing his wife. He told me he was going underground, so I figured I wouldn’t have to sneak around no more. It was a win-win for me. His wife Betty was happy to see him climb down that hole too, so she never bothered with him. Anyway, Betty and I stopped seeing each other about 15 years ago. The two of them have a kid now anyways, so I’m going to let them live their best lives.”

Dale said he is now going to spend most of his time with his family. “West Vigrinia hasn’t changed much since I left, so I’m going to dedicate my time to the ones that love me the most,” Dale stated. Trusdale plans on spending as much time as he can with his 14 year old son, to make up for lost time with his child.