Over the years some of the tunnels were lost, sealed off, or forgotten. New tunnels were build over, under, and around them, and the old remnants were found by street people needing shelter. The earthquake that shook the East Coast in 2005 leveled Manhattan , and also left many of the Boston tunnels ruined or abandoned, requiring the construction of new ones. The old tunnels and lost stations were declared unsafe and sealed off by the city government. They became home to refugees outside of the system, people like our tribe.