Torrential rain has turned one of the US’s most coveted festivals into a trap. Since 1990, a camp that resembles an alternative metropolis for “Burning Man” has been gathering in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada. The name goes back to the – currently postponed – ceremony in which a wooden doll with human facial features is set on fire. There is a victim waiting for the sun to return.
The number of participants in this year’s edition is around 70,000, many of whom were stuck in the mud. On Saturday (the state is 9 hours behind Italy) they were advised to ration food, water and gasoline. To spend the night protected and dry. Those who were traveling to reach the “playa” (the name of the central location) were ordered by the authorities to return home. Those already there had no choice as the roads were blocked and the muddy ground swallowed the wheels of cars. The temporary airport, which was set up like every summer, was also closed.
The most critical situation at the festival was experienced by those who had set up tents. The bathrooms are out of order, the WiFi depends on the generators. Images posted on social media show dilapidated people forced to wrap their shoes in cellophane or garbage bags just to get out of the mud. The Pershing County Sheriff’s Office has opened an investigation into the death of one person during the weather-stricken festival.
In order to leave, someone has looked at the only viable path, so to speak. He faced a five-mile walk in the mud – although it takes two hours in these soil conditions – to pick it up once he reached a side road and then take it to Reno, the city center 120 miles away. “It felt like two bricks on my feet,” one of the defectors told CNN.
The festival organizes free buses from Gerlach, the closest town but where there are no more rooms, to Reno. Whether some veterans danced in the mud or used it for improvised sculptures, the DJ and producer Diplo posted a video of him escaping aboard a pickup truck belonging to his fans, accompanied by comedian Chris Rock. Meanwhile, organizers assembled four-wheel drive vehicles for the rescue operation, which were the only ones capable of extricating themselves.
Since the last rain showers are expected on Sunday afternoon (local time, late Italian evening), the worst will be over. “Weather conditions should be in our favor late Monday. “It could happen sooner or later,” wrote the Burning Man website laconically. In a short period of time, the area received amounts of rain equivalent to two to three months’ worth of rain, depending on the season and region.
Even a few centimeters of water in the dry desert can lead to flooding. That’s exactly what it’s all about: How long will it take until the ground dries and is passable again? In the worst case, it can take days. The retreat from the field at the end of the event has already been described as an “exodus” in the imaginative lexicon of the festival’s visionaries. This year will remind us of an evacuation.