NEWS
Trapped Burning Man Attendees Finally Able To Leave
Courtesy of @burningman via Instagram
Attendees at the Burning Man festival in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert were finally able to begin leaving on Monday afternoon, after the thick mud caused by heavy rain dried enough for vehicular traffic.
Burning Man couldn’t burn its Man to close out the festival on Sunday night due to lingering moisture after rain trapped attendees in the mud over the weekend. The effigy that is burned at the end of each Burning Man festival was instead lit on Monday night, festival organizers said on the Burning Man event website.
“Despite afternoon drizzle, the conditions are improving on the playa,” Burning Man organizers said Sunday night. The “exodus” from the festival originally scheduled for Sunday was moved to Monday, after the playa had a chance to dry out.
Exodus operations began at 2 p.m. on Monday, but festival organizers warned drivers to “take it slow” as the playa was still muddy. Organizers also advised attendees to consider delaying their departure until Tuesday to alleviate congestion.
Some 70,000 attendees were told on Friday to shelter in place and conserve food and water, as monsoon rains bogged down vehicles and made even walking difficult in ankle-deep mud. No vehicles were allowed into or out of Black Rock City, the festival’s temporary community, as roads were impassable, according to organizers.
The Nevada Department of Transportation closed all travel lanes at Nevada State Route 447 near West Pyramid Lake Road due to flooding Friday.
Some vehicles did manage to leave the festival over the weekend, but damaged the playa surface in the process, according to the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office, which advised against driving out on the wet sand. A playa is a flat, dry lakebed that can, during monsoons, briefly become a shallow lake.
The sheriff’s office said Sunday it was investigating one death at the festival, unrelated to the weather.
TMX contributed to this article.
