SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Tens of thousands of people who were hoping to party over Labor Day weekend in a Nevada desert now have to shelter in place. Heavy rainstorms turned the Burning Man campsites into thick mud.
The wet conditions forced burns to be postponed, and the gate and airport of Black Rock City were closed for an extended period of time as well.
Black Rock City is about two hours northeast of Reno, and there's only one road paved to get there.
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ABC 10News spoke to men from Pacific Beach and La Mesa who were stuck at the festival. People were asked to conserve food, water and fuel.
Rich Richards says he's been going to the festival for nine years, and he's never seen a situation like this.
"It's still very incredibly hard to walk through it without slipping or having just big chunks of mud attached to your shoes," he says. "I don't know how we're going to get 70,000 plus people out of here."
BurningMan.org is sharing updates on the weather impacting the festival.
Richards has been spending time with his fellow campers in the meantime.
"You'll have a big dust storm come and your face will all be all dusty and your clothes will be dusty," he said. "That's par for the coarse, however this rain, that just threw everybody for a loop."
Despite the downpour, the first-time campers Richards hung out with said they'll be coming back to the festival in the future.
La Mesa resident Bruce Rogow was also trapped in the mud at the festival. Rogow has been going to Burning Man for 20 years, and says he was probably more prepared for the severe weather event than others.
"A lot of people come here with a really small amount of resources and so they suffer a lot more," he says.
As the festival tells attendees to conserve food, Rogow says he has at least another two weeks worth inside his camper.
"It's not a safe place," he says. "You really have to know what you're doing. You have to have your wits about you. But if you do, it's the most amazing place."
Rogow says he is still having fun with his friends as they wait out the rain.
As of 9 a.m. Sunday, the roads remained too wet and muddy to officially open them, per BurningMan.org. Event organizers also said more bad weather seemed to be on the way.
They did report that some vehicles with four-wheel drive and all-terrain tires were able to navigate the mud and leave successfully; however, most vehicles that tried to leave were getting stuck.
Organizers asked people to stay put and avoid driving. The festival plans to carry out the burning ceremony Sunday night, weather permitting.
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