The popular Burning Man art festival in Black Rock, Nevada, took a turn for the worse on Saturday when heavy rainfall caused unprecedented flooding, closing roads and leaving attendees stranded in the muddy desert.
The rainfall came swiftly and reportedly forced “thousands of Burning Man attendees” to trudge through the sloppy mud with many going barefoot or having to wear plastic bags on their feet. Organizers were also forced to close roads into the festival while advising attendees to “shelter in place and conserve food, water and other supplies,” according to CBS News.
“Vehicular gates will be closed for the remainder of the event, which began on Aug. 27 and was scheduled to end on Monday, according to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management,” reported the outlet.
“The Black Rock City Municipal Airport, a temporary pop-up airport used by festival goers every summer specifically for Burning Man, was closed as of Saturday evening,” it added.
The organizers officially declared all access to Burning Man “closed” as of Saturday while only permitting emergency vehicles. Given the lack of access, portable toilets at the festival will not get their required service, which will likely result in overflowing sewage, leading to trench foot and mouth.
“Attendees saw their campsites transformed by thick, ankle-deep mud and organizers halted vehicles from traveling in or out of the festival after heavy rains started saturating the area Friday evening,” noted CNN. “Some festival-goers hiked miles to reach main roads while others hoped storms forecasted to hit the area overnight wouldn’t worsen conditions.”
Woodstock ’99 illustrated the dangers of this kind of scenario.
Festivalgoers took to social media to illustrate the chaos. DJ and music producer Diplo shared a video on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday showing comedian Chris Rock piled onto a truck with other people to leave:
“Just walked 5 miles in the mud out of Burning Man with Chris Rock and a fan picked us up,” said Diplo.
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
“Hello from Burning Man. There is absolutely crazy flooding right now, but I, along with my camp, am safe with plenty of water, food, and shelter. Turning off the Starlink to conserve power,” DJ Spencer Brown said on X.
— spencer (@Spencer_Brown) September 2, 2023
Due to recent rainfall, the Bureau of Land Management and the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office officials have closed the entrance to Burning Man for the remainder of the event. Please avoid traveling to the area; you will be turned around. All event access is closed. pic.twitter.com/BY8Rv7eFLD
— Washoe Sheriff (@WashoeSheriff) September 2, 2023
Mudpocalyptic!
Situation at Burning Man. Burning Man festival-goers trapped in desert as rain turns site to mud.#burningman #lasvegas #burningman2023 pic.twitter.com/hcB2pVJK03
— Unframed Soulset (@unframedai) September 2, 2023
🚨#BREAKING: Burning Man Festival Declares National Emergency as over 73,000 Campers are trapped Urged to Shelter in Place Amid Flooding Crisis
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
60,000 people stuck at burning man and it’s not looking good. There is limited food and water and toilets and showers beginning to fail. They need at least four days for it to dry out as it’s too muddy to leave. They are stuck. pic.twitter.com/BTeKOvu83o
— Erin Elizabeth Health Nut News 🙌 (@unhealthytruth) September 2, 2023
Burning Man 2023 is now declared a national emergency by the US government.
Over 70,000 people are stranded at Black Rock City in Nevada#BurningMan #BurningMan2023 #Nevada pic.twitter.com/VFTO7KehMA— Updates (@sirfupdate) September 3, 2023
Paul Roland Bois joined Breitbart News in 2021. He also directed the award-winning feature film, EXEMPLUM, which can be viewed for FREE on YouTube or Tubi. A high-quality, ad-free stream can also be purchased on Google Play or Vimeo on Demand. Follow him on Twitter @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.