Suspension of transportation… Escape by walking 10km
Two months of rain in Black Rock, Nevada
Hail and strong wind forecast, ‘food storage’ announcement
▲ On the 3rd (local time), when the Black Rock Desert, the site of the Burning Man festival in Nevada, USA, turned into muddy water due to sudden heavy rain, a participant struggles to get out of the site on foot while holding a bicycle. Nevada Reuters Yonhap News More than 70,000 participants at a festival held in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, USA, were stranded in knee-deep mud. There was also one death. Some of the participants are escaping by walking through a huge mud pit that stretches for 10 km as vehicles traveling to and from the event stop.
According to media outlets such as the Associated Press and CNN on the 3rd (local time), the ‘Burning Man’ counterculture festival, which opened on August 27 and lasted until the 4th, was closed with an order to stop due to bad weather such as heavy rain and flooding. Participants were ordered to evacuate to a safe place.
Although only 20 mm of rain fell in 24 hours, the organizers were not prepared for two months’ worth of rain in the Black Rock Desert all at once. It was a dry sandy bottom and there was no drainage system, so the whole area of the event site turned into muddy water in an instant. Amenities such as toilets did not work properly.
On the 3rd, rain of 25 mm accompanied by hail and strong winds of up to 64 km per hour were predicted, so the organizers informed the participants to stock up on food, drinking water and fuel and prepare for emergencies. It also announced on social media (SNS) that all transportation services to and from the nearby city of Reno and the city of Black Rock, which is 180 km away, will be suspended until the closing day. The organizers said, “Currently, it is difficult to drive even a four-wheel drive vehicle safely.”
Even if the weather improves, the police expected that vehicles would be able to move only on the night of the 4th. As vehicles were banned, most of the participants entered the venue on foot, either barefoot or with plastic bags wrapped around their feet.
DJ Diplo (real name Thomas Wesley Fentz), a program performer, posted a photo on Instagram of himself riding in the luggage compartment of a fan’s pickup truck with comedian Chris Rock. The two said they walked 9km through mud and barely got into a car.
Neil Cartial, a law professor who also escaped from the Burning Man festival, reiterated on social media this morning, “It was an incredibly terrible hike in the middle of the night to walk 10 km through heavy, slippery mud.”
The anti-establishment Burning Man festival is a combination of camping and avant-garde cultural performances, and the principle is that participants bring their own water, food, and necessary items to self-sufficient.
Those who remained at the site on the 3rd seemed to be enjoying the situation despite the adverse conditions. Most of them posted on social media pictures of themselves covered in mud or splashing muddy water on each other and dancing next to a lake that suddenly appeared in the desert.
Photographer Rebecca Barger, who came from Philadelphia on the 28th of last month, said, “It’s my first time participating, so I’ll keep the site until the end.” told the reporter.
Meanwhile, the police did not disclose the identity of the person who died at the festival site, but only said that they were investigating the cause of death.
Senior Reporter Song Han-soo
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2023-09-04 16:24:07
