Thousands Stuck at Burning Man Due to Extreme Rain Told to ‘Conserve Food, Water and Fuel’
Festival organizers tweeted that no one is allowed to enter and exit Black Rock City "until further notice"
Thousands of people attending Burning Man in Black Rock Desert have been advised to “conserve food, water and fuel and shelter in a warm, safe space” after extreme rainfall started flooding the region in northern Nevada.
On Saturday, organizers informed festival-goers on X, formerly known as Twitter, “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.”
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The statement added, “If you are in BRC, conserve food, water and fuel, and shelter in a warm, safe space.”
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 (@bmantraffic) September 2, 2023
Later in the day, the festival organizers reiterated in another tweet, “Do not travel to Black Rock City! Access to the city is closed for the remainder of the event, and you will be turned around.”
Diplo and Chris Rock are among some of the celebrities at the festival, as the 44-year-old DJ tweeted, “Just walked 5 miles in the mud out of burning man with chris rock and a fan picked us up.” Diplo also shared a video of him and Rock, 58, riding in the back of a truck through the desert with several others.
just walked 5 miles in the mud out of burning man with chris rock and a fan picked us up pic.twitter.com/0uxSXLHgY6
— diplo (@diplo) September 2, 2023
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Hannah Burhorn, who is at Burning Man for the first time, told CNN that the desert sand has turned into a thick mud that has made it almost impossible to walk through thanks to the excessive rainwater.
“It’s unavoidable at this point,” Burhorn said. “It’s in the bed of the truck, inside the truck. People have tried to bike through it and have gotten stuck because it’s about ankle deep.”
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The northern region of Nevada where Burning Man is held started experiencing severe rainfall on Friday. Black Rock Desert will continue to be pounded by showers and thunderstorms until Sunday night with an 80 percent chance of rain, per the National Weather Service’s forecast. However, the weeklong festival is scheduled to end on Monday.
According to Travel Nevada, more than 70,000 people attend the weeklong festival every year. Formed once they reach the desert region, Black Rock City is “a temporary metropolis dedicated to community, art, self-expression and self-reliance,” as stated on the Burning Man website.
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