Yeah, they’re built on high ground. Basements surrounded with dirt, narrow windows at the top...defensible communities...”cities” may have been overstating it...
When I moved to Pocatello from San Diego, I wanted a real basement. Houses in Pocatello are built that way. Houses in Boise are built like San Diego. Single story on slabs, wood framing and stucco exteriors. I had enough of that style growing up in San Diego. I'm sure the basement qualifies as "defensible". My window wells are barely suitable "foxholes". They don't meet the "egress" requirement for a fully equipped firefighter to jump into the well and access the basement. Absent that qualification, the 1300 sq feet in the basement can't legally host a bedroom. C'est la vie!
The Kurds thought basements were safe shelter from Saddam's military. That worked right up to the point where he employed heavier than air toxic gas to kill everyone huddled in the basements. Chemical Ali is still above room temperature.