Tens of thousands of Burning Man festival attendees have been trapped in their camps in Nevada’s desert after a slow-moving rainstorm turned the playa into a muddy swamp.
The organizers described the unusual weather conditions as “treacherous” and urged the “burners” to “shelter in place”, warning that the “adverse weather conditions will continue.”
Roads in and out of the popular event were closed as of Saturday afternoon and airline and bus services were suspended.
“The gate and airport in and out of Black Rock City remain closed. Ingress and egress are halted until further notice. No driving is permitted except emergency vehicles. If you are in BRC, conserve food, water, and fuel, and shelter in a warm, safe space. More updates to come”, Burning Man Traffic twitted on Saturday afternoon.
🚨#BREAKING: Burning Man Festival Declares National Emergency as over 73,000 Campers are trapped Urged to Shelter in Place Amid Flooding Crisis 📌#Blackrock | #Nevada Currently, more than 73,000 festival attendees and campers are trapped with no access in or out of the… pic.twitter.com/gMxoFiFKdm
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) September 2, 2023
According to the local media, more than 73,000 people attended the festival this year. It remains unclear if the attendees will be able to leave at the scheduled end of the event, known as Exodus, on Monday , and if not, whether they have sufficient supplies to last longer than anticipated.
The attendees were concerned about keeping the food at safe temperature as some generators were unable to run due to ongoing rain. Ice was being rationed to 1 bag of crushed ice or 2 blocks per customer.
Concerns were raised as to servicing portable toilets, creating sanitary issues with hosts at Burning Man Radio urging people to not “use the playa as a bathroom.”
Wi-Fi and cellphone service are virtually nonexistent in the remote area and only a few people have access to satellite internet for updates.
Black Rock City festival is taking place between August 27 and September 4 on a dry lake bed in Northern Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, about 80 miles northeast of Reno.
The event is dedicated to community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance, culminating in the torching of a 40-foot effigy. The practice originated with the burning of an 8-foot wooden “man” in 1986 on San Francisco’s Baker Beach, which evolved into an annual event in Black Rock Desert.
Due to the unfavorable weather conditions, all Saturday burns, including that of the Man effigy, were “postponed indefinitely.”
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