September 3, 2023 – Unexpected rain in the Nevada desert trapped more than 70 thousand people as it turned the ground into living mud. People are barely moving, and evacuation is difficult until the weather calms down, which, could take several days. Like everyone else, the Croats at Burning Man have updated their social media about the situation.
“It’s fantastic here – two more days, see you on Monday or Tuesday,” said Filip. At least that was the idea only a few days ago, before the sudden change in the conditions, writes Dnevnik.
“Here’s the state of Burning Man. Everyone wants to know what the conditions are… It’s chaos,” read another update on the X platform (formerly Twitter).
A festival in the middle of the desert that becomes an improvised city for a week, where art and music are celebrated, turned into somewhat of a horror story.
“Travel is impossible, and there’s about 70,000 people stranded on a barren lake bed. But fortunately, burners are badass and have all the supplies we need,” shared David Date, a metal artist attending the festival, on TikTok / the Independent reports.
In the middle of Nevada, the so-called Black Rock City has hosted Burning Man since 1986, and never in the history of the festival has it seen such a storm, reports Dnevnik Nova TV reporter Sara Duvnjak.
“Right now it’s raining, the first time I’ve ever experienced rain here at Burning Man,” Filip pointed out, adding that he had to stand in a specific spot to connect to the Internet.
The organizers told people not to move from their camps and to conserve food and water as there was no way out at the moment. Thick mud sticks to shoes and everything else it touches.
“Make an expedition to the edge of the city with food and water, and don’t fight anybody because we’re all in this together. Bury those negative thoughts and gratitude for your life because a couple of people didn’t make it last night,” noted David Date on TikTok.
Unofficially, it seems that one person lost their life. The circumstances are still being investigated, but it seems that it happened during the heavy rainfall. However, the overall situation did not create panic among the people – the agreement was that all 70,000 should stick together and everyone would be taken care of.
“The alternative is to fall into despair, roll over and die. And we all have a choice in how we’re going to handle this. So everyone, open up your Starlink satellites so people can communicate with their families,” David noted, after stating, “We don’t need outside help. We’re going to bind together, get radically self-reliant, dry out the furniture, and keep the party going.”
The evacuation could take some time, however, the local forecasters have announced showers and possible thunderstorms until Sunday evening, possibly Monday.
Since the artists’ sculptures exhibited at Burning Man were also completely destroyed, the festival goers decided to make their own mud sculptures to kill time while waiting for the conditions to allow them to go home.
