Look: Tens of thousands stranded at Burning Man in US due to floods; 1 death under investigation

An unusual late-summer storm turned a week-long counterculture fest into a muddy mess with tens of thousands of partygoers stuck in foot-deep mud and no working toilets in the northern Nevada desert, but some Burning Man partygoers said Sunday that their spirits remained unbroken.

“Honestly, we’re having a great time,” organiser Theresa Galeani said.

The annual gathering in the Black Rock Desert about 110 miles (177 kilometres) north of Reno attracts nearly 80,000 artists, musicians and activists for a mix of wilderness camping and avant-garde performances. Disruptions are part of the event's recent history: Organisers had to temporarily close entrances to the festival in 2018 due to dust storms, and the event was twice cancelled altogether during the pandemic.

More a half-inch of rain fell at the festival site on Friday, the National Weather Service in Reno said, with more coming Saturday and Sunday, and organisers closed the festival to vehicles after one death was reported. Officials provided no details of the fatality.

The closures came just before a large wooden effigy was supposed to have been burned Saturday night. Organizers said that all burning had been postponed, and authorities were working to open exit routes by the end of the Labor Day weekend.

“We are a little bit dirty and muddy but spirits are high. The party still going,” said Scott London, a Southern California photographer, adding that the travel limitations offered “a view of Burning Man that a lot of us don’t get to see.”

Officials said late Saturday they didn’t yet know when the roads would “be dry enough for RVs or vehicles to navigate safely,” but they were hopeful vehicles could depart by late Monday if weather conditions improved.

With their party closed to motorized traffic, attendees trudged through mud, many barefoot or with plastic bags on their feet. Revellers were urged to conserve supplies and most remained hunkered down, hoping roads opened as early as Monday

A few, however, managed to walk several miles to the nearest town or catch a ride there.

Celebrity DJ Diplo posted a video to Instagram on Saturday evening showing him and comedian Chris Rock riding in the back of a fan’s pickup truck. He said they had walked six miles through the mud before hitching a ride.

“I legit walked the side of the road for hours with my thumb out,” wrote Diplo, whose real name is Thomas Wesley Pentz.

The event is remote on the best of days, and emphasizes self-sufficiency — meaning most people bring in their own food, water and other supplies.

Those who remained Sunday described a resilient community making the most of the muddy conditions: Many posted selfies of themselves covered in mud, dancing or splashing in the makeshift lakes.

“We have not witnessed any negativity, any rough times,” Galeani said. “Some people … were supposed to leave a few days ago so they’re out of water or food. But I am an organiser so I went around and found more water and food. There is more than enough here for people. We just have to get it to everyone.”

London, the southern California photographer who was attending his 20th Burning Man and just came out with a book on the festival, “Burning Man: Art On Fire,” spent much of Saturday walking barefoot across the site, which is about 5 square miles. He said that the biggest challenge was logistics, since no vehicles could traverse the site, supplies could not be brought in and most people could not leave.

“We are a little bit dirty and muddy but spirits are high. The party still going,” he said, adding the travel limitations offered “a view of Burning Man that a lot of us don’t get to see.”

“Usually it’s very crowded with art cars, bikes and people all over the place but yesterday it was like an abandoned playground,” he added.

Rebecca Barger, a photographer from Philadelphia, arrived at her first Burning Man on Aug. 26 and was determined to stick it out through the end.

“I’m not leaving until both ‘The Man’ and ‘The Temple’ burn,” Barger said, referring to the wooden effigy and wooden structure that are traditionally torched during the event’s last two nights.

She said one of the biggest concerns has been the lack of toilet options, since the trucks that normally arrive to clean out the portable toilets multiple times a day haven’t been able to reach the site since Friday’s rainstorm. Some revelers said trucks had resumed cleaning on Sunday.

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