Photo: JULIE JAMMOT/AFP/Getty Images
By: The opinion Posted 04 Sep 2023, 13:39 pm EDT
The 72,000 Burning Man festival attendees who are stuck in the desert of Nevada, in the United States, after torrential rains left the terrain muddy, They will be able to leave the premises starting this Monday.
This was confirmed by the organizers of the popular festival in their latest update published on the event’s website. “The exodus is scheduled to officially begin around noon today, Monday, September 4,” they said.
Despite the fact that the driveway to Black Rock City, the name of the temporary city that is built every year to host the festival, is still “a little muddy and there is still too much standing water”, it is drying and vehicles will be able to leave starting this afternoon.
Even so, the organizers asked attendees to delay their departure until Tuesdayto relieve “a large amount of congestion throughout the day today.”
Since last Friday hundreds of vehicles, many of them heavy caravans, They got stuck in the desert after torrential rains that occurred between Friday night and Saturday collapsed the venue.
Roads in and out of Black Rock City were closed Saturday and the organizers asked attendees to take shelter and ration their food and water since it was practically impossible for vehicles to circulate.
This is observed in images published by the US media, taken from the air by a drone, in which hundreds of stranded vehicles appear, surrounded by mud.
In just 24 hours, rainfall equivalent to two or three months (up to 0.8 inches) was recorded in the area.
Despite the fact that the organizers of the event asked the attendees to take refuge and not try to leave the area on their own, hundreds of them decided to escape by walking through the desert.
According to the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office, some attendees walked to a main road to wait for buses sent out by festival organizers Saturday night.
The authorities confirmed the death of one person at the festival on Sunday.
“Pershing County Sheriff’s Office is currently investigating a death that occurred during this rain. The family has been notified and the death is under investigation. As this death is still under investigation, no further information is available at this time,” according to the sheriff’s office statement quoted by ABC News.
The Burning Man festival takes place every year on a dry lake in the Nevada desert.where a temporary city is built that can be accessed via a two-lane highway.
During the event, attendees can participate in a series of artistic and community activities that, according to some of the attendees, have continued to be held these days despite the conditions on the ground.
According to the organizers, the festival is guided by a series of principles, including “civil responsibility”, “radical expression” or “leave no trace”, and the use of money is not allowed (although tickets to attend cost hundreds of dollars).
In their statement published today, the organizers insisted on one of the festival’s principles: “Don’t forget to leave no trace and community effort when you leave. All participants are expected to pack up everything they brought with them and clean up the camp space before leaving town.”
With information from EFE
Keep reading:
- Videos show how thousands of people were trapped in the Nevada desert after rains at the Burning Man festival
- Thousands stranded by Nevada desert storms during Burning Man festival
- They confirm a death at the Burning Man festival after thousands of people were trapped by the rains in Nevada