SOGGY MAN: Burning Man attendees told to shelter in place because of rain.
More than 73,000 Burning Man attendees remain confined to their camps Saturday and are blocked from leaving the event after a slow-moving rainstorm turned their desert playground into a soupy, muddy morass.Organizers banned vehicle traffic from the roads Friday afternoon and kept the exit gates closed as of 5 a.m. Saturday. Even walking was treacherous as thick, slimy mud clung to shoes and anything else it touched.Organizers warned attendees to conserve their food and water, indicating the closures could be lengthy.Dawn revealed puddled water and ruts in the streets, which are just delineated routes along the ordinarily rock-hard desert floor. More rain was expected through Sunday, along with whiteouts, event organizers said.
“No driving is permitted on playa except for emergency vehicles,” event organizers said in a 5 a.m. statement. “If you are in (Black Rock City), please shelter in place and stay safe.”They added separately: “If you are in BRC, conserve food and water, shelter in a warm space.”The road closures appeared to have forced a halt to cleaning and servicing of the thousands of port-a-potties used by attendees who spent Friday night huddled in muddy tents and RVs as the temperature dropped into the low 50s.
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Hannah Burhorn, a first-time attendee at the festival, told CNN in a phone interview Saturday she and her friends were not expecting any rain – only extreme heat.
The sand on the desert has formed into thick clay, Burhorn said, and puddles and mud are everywhere.
“It’s unavoidable at this point,” she said. “It’s in the bed of the truck, inside the truck. People who have tried to bike through it and have gotten stuck because it’s about ankle deep.”
People are wrapping trash bags and Ziploc bags around their shoes to avoid getting stuck, while others are going barefoot, Burhorn said. The mud is so thick that it “sticks to your shoes and makes it almost like a boot around your boot,” making it even more difficult to move around, she added.
I’m sure the attendees are enjoying the history they’re learning this weekend — the long awaited mashup of Woodstock and Stalingrad has finally arrived.
However, there is a bit of good news, at least: No, There’s Not An Ebola Outbreak At Burning Man.