Tens of thousands of revelers attending the Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert were on Saturday asked to shelter in place and conserve food and water after a rainstorm turned the site into mud.
Access to and from Black Rock City, the event’s site, was closed “for the remainder of the event,” organizers said in a statement on social media.
“Rain over the last 24 hours has created a situation that required a full stop of vehicle movement,” the US Bureau of Land Management, the agency that manages the land on which the event takes place, said in a statement.
Photo: AFP / Satellite image 2023 Maxar Technologies
“More rain is expected over the next few days and conditions are not expected to improve enough to allow vehicles to enter,” it said.
Thick, pasty mud surrounded Paul Reder’s recreational vehicle on Saturday afternoon, as scattered patches of blue tried to break through the gray cloud cover above him.
“Fortunately we’re in a fairly big camp with a lot of supplies,” Reder said during a video call. “As a community, everybody’s sharing with each other.”
Reder, who has been attending the event for 22 years, said he expected it would take at least two days for the area to dry out.
While he was prepared to ride it out, Reder said that some attendees are leaving the site on foot and trekking to the nearest highway.
More than 12.7mm of rain is believed to have fallen on Friday at the festival site, which is about 177km north of Reno, the National Weather Service in Reno said.
At least another 6.4mm of rain was expected yesterday.
The Reno Gazette Journal reported that organizers had started rationing ice sales and that as all vehicle traffic at the festival grounds had been stopped, portable toilets were unable to be serviced.
More than 60,000 participants travel to and from the remote area in northwest Nevada every year, according to the event’s website, gathering in the temporary city to make art, dance, and enjoy community.
Local media reported that there were more than 70,000 “burners” in Black Rock City.
“If it really turns into a disaster, well, no one is going to have sympathy for us,” said Mike Jed, a festivalgoer. “I mean, it’s Burning Man.”
Additional reporting by AP
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