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Burning Man has finally come to an anti-climatic end as revellers begin their mass exodus after the event was overshadowed by a severe storm that trapped 70,000 attendees in the northwest Nevada desert.<\/p>\n
The flooding had left attendees ankle-deep in mud and 70,000 people were thought to have been stranded. <\/p>\n
Bad weather at the US festival made the ground too slippery to even walk on, with roads surrounding the area closed as vehicles couldn\u2019t drive on them. <\/p>\n
On Monday, the roads reopened and festival organisers began to allow traffic to start making the slow journey out of the area. That afternoon, organisers said that around 64,000 people still remained on-site. <\/p>\n
However, even with permission to leave, festival-goers were advised to wait until Tuesday to begin their exodus to avoid congestion. <\/p>\n
Amid the chaos over the weekend, authorities were also investigating a death at the festival and have now identified the man as 32-year-old Leon Reece, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. <\/p>\n
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A cause of death is yet to be determined but it was previously said to not be weather-related. <\/p>\n
The festival build-up to the big \u2018final burn\u2019 was scheduled to take place on Monday evening but it\u2019s not clear whether this was able to happen with festival-goers making their exit. <\/p>\n
Flooding in the area was so severe that \u2018three-eyed dinosaur shrimp\u2019 have apparently woken up in the Nevada desert.<\/p>\n
The crustaceans are said to have been \u2018stirred\u2019 by all the flooding in the Nevada desert.<\/p>\n
According to the Independent, the shrimp can lay dormant for years in drought conditions, but have now \u2018resurfaced to join the mud party at Burning Man\u2019.<\/p>\n
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Meanwhile, Burning Man has confirmed on X \u2013 formerly known as Twitter \u2013 that people won\u2019t be able to leave as early on Monday as they thought.<\/p>\n
They wrote: \u2018Gate Road remains too wet & muddy for most vehicles to safely navigate out of BRC this morning, but is drying. Exodus likely to begin around noon today, Monday 9\/4.\u2019<\/p>\n
Festival organisers also asked people to consider leaving on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
An update on the festival\u2019s site read: \u2018Consider delaying your departure from Black Rock City until Tuesday 9\/5. This will alleviate large amounts of congestion throughout the day today, Monday 9\/4.\u2019<\/p>\n
But nevertheless, guests started pouring out of the festival on Monday and Black Rock City\u2019s airport was back up and running by 12pm local time.<\/p>\n
As if the weather wasn\u2019t enough, there had been even more panic amid rumours the deadly Ebola virus was spreading through the site.<\/p>\n
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Some accounts on X- sparked whispers, while others even shared fake screenshots claiming to be from the Centre For Disease Control (CDC).<\/p>\n
Thankfully, there is no evidence to suggest this is true, and the CDC hasn\u2019t issued any such warnings.<\/p>\n
However, the battle against the elements is very real, and Muse frontman Matt Bellamy biked through miles through the Nevada desert to leave the event as heavy rain has left thousands stranded.<\/p>\n
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Celebrities had also descended on the art event, with the likes of\u00a0Chris Rock and Diplo seen fleeing the chaos in fits of giggles as they waded their way out of the mud for two miles before a fan picked them up in a truck.<\/p>\n
Grabbing his poncho and hitting the road, Muse rocker Matt cycled out of the festival and documented the journey on his Instagram page.<\/p>\n
He shared pictures and videos across his wet and rainy trip, all smiles in a fetching red waterproof, fur coat, and thick eyewear to protect against the elements.<\/p>\n
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\u2018Biked out of Burning man to Gerlach, 5 miles through boggy wet desert and 12 miles on mountain roads, epic journey!\u2019 he captioned the post.<\/p>\n
Dublin singer Daytona Rose is among those still at the festival, and she admitted it\u2019s too dangerous to try and leave at the moment.<\/p>\n
She told RTE Radio 1: \u2018Even going from camp to camp is difficult\u2026 lifting your foot up with that mud stuck to your shoe is very heavy\u2026 it\u2019s pretty crazy, I\u2019ve never experienced anything like it to be honest.\u2019<\/p>\n
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Taking to Instagram, she added: \u2018Some electrical chords were close to catching fire on Friday night when it rained really heavy, that was fairly scary to say the least. Everyone has shown kindness though and we\u2019re all banding together to share supplies to get through this! What a first burning man experience !! (sic)\u2019<\/p>\n
One possible escape route from the festival has remained viable, which involves a five-mile hike through the mud to the blacktop country road 34 \u2013 and it\u2019s this option that model Kelly Gale, 28, and her 43-year-old fiance Joel Kinnaman and their pals opted for.<\/p>\n
On Saturday afternoon local time, the Victoria\u2019s Secret model took to Instagram with a photo of her feet clad in walking boots, which she had taped plastic bags around in an attempt to avoid them getting bogged down with mud.<\/p>\n
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\u2018Fingers crossed,\u2019 she captioned the picture on her Instagram Stories as their trek began, and she kept fans updated with snapshots of their progress before showing Joel striding next to her in mud-covered boots as she observed they were \u2018getting to safety\u2019.<\/p>\n
The festival is famous for the giant wooden man that is burnt at the end of the event, and for its interactive art installations.<\/p>\n
The Burning Man campsite has turned from a sandy desert into a total mud-bath due to a half-inch of rain, and organisers have urged people to \u2018conserve food, water, and fuel\u2019 and to \u2018shelter in a warm, safe space\u2019.<\/p>\n
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In the meantime, they added that no one is allowed to leave or enter the site, with the gate and airport in and out of Black Rock City still \u2018closed\u2019.<\/p>\n
Anyone planning on travelling to the festival \u2013 which was due to run from August 27 until September 4 \u2013 will be \u2018turned around\u2019 as it\u2019s now shut for the remainder of the event.<\/p>\n
Adding on their X \u2013 formerly Twitter \u2013 account, organisers told people in the desert to \u2018help each other stay safe\u2019 amid the adverse conditions.<\/p>\n
According to the\u00a0BBC, a source at the event said\u00a0that \u2018everyone is fine\u2019 but there is a \u2018sense of uncertainty\u2019, adding: \u2018Signal [across the camp] is the problem, we can\u2019t really communicate with anyone.\u2019<\/p>\n
The source also noted that portable toilets were out of use, and those in tents were being allowed into the family campervan facilities.<\/p>\n
The floods have even awoken some bizarre organisms that can lie dormant in the desert for decades until the right conditions.<\/p>\n
Triops \u2013 also known as dinosaur shrimp, with their \u2018three eyes\u2019 \u2013 and fairy shrimp (sea monkeys) are among them, and they\u2019ve started to stir.<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t the first time Burning Man has been faced with challenging weather conditions, after last year\u2019s event experienced a sudden sandstorm.<\/p>\n
Someone who\u2019s got nothing but love for the festival, though, is Elon Musk, who\u2019s hailed it as \u2018the best art on Earth\u2019 despite all the chaos.<\/p>\n
He tweeted on Monday: \u2018Burning Man is unique in the world. Hard to describe how incredible it is for those who have never been. Best art on Earth.\u2019<\/p>\n
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The chaotic scenes at Burning Man have reminded people of Woodstock \u201999 after Netflix\u2019s Trainwreck documentary last summer, which told the tale of the festival revival that descended into violence and mayhem.<\/p>\n
Hot temperatures and high prices (with reports of water bottles charged at $4 and few free taps) added into the mix, and over that weekend, there were 44 arrests made, 1,200 admissions to onsite medical facilities, and three people died.<\/p>\n
The official synopsis of Trainwreck: Woodstock \u201999 reads: \u2018Woodstock \u201899 was supposed to be a millennium-defining celebration of peace, love and great music.<\/p>\n
\u2018Instead, the festival degenerated into an epic trainwreck of fires, riots and destruction.<\/p>\n
\u2018Utilising rare insider footage and eyewitness interviews with an impressive list of festival staffers, performers and attendees, this docuseries goes behind the scenes to reveal the egos, greed and music that fuelled three days of utter chaos.\u2019<\/p>\n
Thankfully, scenes at Burning Man appear much more serene despite the chaos.<\/p>\n
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