Nevada
\nHeavy rains put an end to the fun in Nevada\u2019s Burning Man festival leaving tens of thousands of attendees in Black Rock City stranded with one person dead so far as authorities have launched probe to determine the cause of death.
\nAuthorities in the area have closed the Road gates in and out of the Black Rock City venue, however, some people trudged on foot for hours to reach the nearest road and hitch a lift out.
\nVideos on social media show \u201cburners\u201d struggling across the wet grey-brown site, with some using trash bags as boots while others were stuck in the thick mud.
\nThe events at the Burning Man festival were called off after the devastation followed by the rains.
\n\u201cIt was an incredibly harrowing six-mile [10 kilometre] hike at midnight through heavy and slippery mud, but I got safely out,\u201d lawyer Neal Katyal said on social media.
\n\u201cIt is very slippery and the mud is like cement and sticks to your boots. No one should try this unless in good shape and part of a group. These are dangerous conditions to hike and will likely get worse.\u201d
\nFestival crowds were asked to shelter in place and conserve food and water after the heavy rains started Friday night, with more downpours forecast for Sunday.
\n\u201cYou can\u2019t really walk or drive,\u201d a young woman circus performer, said on TikTok. Internet service was either not available or patchy, she said.
\n\u201cMy boots are five inches, and the mud became five inches so I was kind of on stilts,\u201d Lee said, adding people were being told they may be stuck until Tuesday.
\n\u201cWe have enough tuna for a week so we\u2019re OK.\u201d
\nDifficult conditions at Burning Man
\nA video posted on social media showed comedian Chris Rock hitching a ride in the back of a pickup truck after managing to leave.
\nPershing County Sheriff\u2019s Sargent Nathan Carmichael told CNN the conditions are difficult.
\nThe muck \u201cseems to stick to people, stick to tires (and) makes it very, very difficult to move vehicles around,\u201d he said, adding that most RV motorhomes were stranded.
\nOrganizers urged festivalgoers to \u201cconserve food, water and fuel, and shelter in a warm, safe space,\u201d saying the \u201cplaya\u201d \u2014 the huge open-air esplanade where the event unfolds \u2014 was impassable.
\n\u201cLook out for your neighbours, introduce yourself,\u201d they added.
\nOne attendee, known on the playa only as Dr T, told AFP he is planning to \u201cjust go with the flow, meet people and make the best out of this difficult situation.\u201d
\nThe California surgeon said he was worried about missing patient appointments Tuesday, but that there was \u201cnothing I can do about it right now.\u201d
\n\u201cWe have water, and we have hope and we take people [into] our camp when they need\u201d it, he added.
\nOrganisers announced the event\u2019s finale attraction \u2014 burning a structure known as \u201cthe Man\u201d \u2014 was set to go ahead Sunday night, \u201cweather permitting.\u201d
\nThe festival was scheduled to conclude on Monday.
\nSurvival guide for Burning Man festival
\nThe organisers warned only some four-wheel drive vehicles with all-terrain tires were able to move.
\n\u201cAnything less than that will get stuck. It will hamper exodus if we have cars stuck on roads in our camping areas, or on the Gate Road out of the city,\u201d they said on a \u201c2023 Wet Playa Survival Guide\u201d special webpage.
\nIf necessary, they said it was possible to walk to the nearest road, where buses would be provided to take people to Reno.
\nMobile cellphone trailers were being deployed and the site\u2019s wireless internet was opened for public access.
\n\u201cWe have done table-top drills for events like this. We are engaged full-time on all aspects of safety,\u201d organisers said.
\nAccording to a White House official, President Joe Biden had been briefed on the situation in the desert.
\n\u201cEvent attendees should listen to state and local officials and event organisers,\u201d the official said, adding that the administration was in touch with local authorities.
\nLast year, the festival contended with an intense heat wave and strong winds.
\nLaunched in 1986 in San Francisco, Burning Man aims to be an undefinable event, somewhere between a celebration of counterculture and a spiritual retreat.
\nThe festival culminates each year with the ceremonial burning of a 40-foot (12-meter) effigy.
\nIt has been held since the 1990s in the Black Rock Desert, a protected area in northwest Nevada, which the organisers are committed to preserving.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nevada Heavy rains put an end to the fun in Nevada\u2019s Burning Man festival leaving tens of thousands of attendees in Black Rock City stranded with one person dead so far as authorities have launched probe to determine the cause of death. Authorities in the area have closed the Road gates in and out of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":353845,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-353830","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n