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-Short Attention Span Theater-
1 death reported at Burning Man while festival attendees remain stuck in the Nevada desert from heavy rains
2023-09-03
[CNN] As thousands of people remain unable to leave the Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert after heavy rains inundated their campsites with ankle-deep mud Saturday, authorities say they are investigating a death at the event.

Attendees were told to shelter in place in the Black Rock Desert and conserve food, water and fuel after a rainstorm swamped the area, forcing officials to halt any entering or leaving of the festival.

The remote area in northwest Nevada was hit with 2 to 3 months worth of rain — up to 0.8 inches — in just 24 hours between Friday and Saturday mornings. The heavy rainfall fell on dry desert grounds, whipping up thick, clay-like mud that festivalgoers say is too difficult to walk or bike through.

"More rain is expected over the next few days and conditions are not expected to improve enough to allow vehicles to enter the playa," the Bureau of Land Management said in a statement obtained by the Reno Gazette Journal.

The Pershing County Sheriff’s Office said it’s investigating "a death which occurred during this rain event." Authorities did not publicly name the person or provide details on the circumstances of the death.

"The family has been notified and the death is under investigation," the sheriff’s office said in a late Saturday news release.

Authorities have not provided information on when roads could reopen, but the sunshine is expected to return Monday after more showers Sunday.
Related:
Burning Man: 2023-08-29 Hollywood stars bankroll anti-capitalist eco-warriors who blockaded Burning Man
Burning Man: 2023-08-28 Nevada Rangers Ram Through Climate Protest Blockade, Point Gun at Activists, Slam Them to the Ground (VIDEO)
Burning Man: 2020-06-14 Some say 'Black Lives Matter' message hijacked by emergence of 'CHAZ'
Posted by:Besoeker

#18  ^Thank MR. I live out here, and getting to Reno's hospitals usually requires a medivac flight or a 1.5 hour drive. But we do have paramedics, EMTs, and two former military nurses who help out as needed.

It's hard to explain Burner culture to on outsider. But, basically, it's deliberately not serious, rather surreal, and in practice doesn't have a lot to do with the ongoing culture war.
Posted by: Secret Master    2023-09-03 19:21  

#17  Glad it's better than being reported, SM. That's kind of out in the boonies if someone had a medical emergency and they couldn't get to them out of there.

That type of gathering is not my cup of tea, but I'm just an old guy suffering from toxic masculinity.
Posted by: Mullah Richard   2023-09-03 19:02  

#16  I was just out there and it's fine. Very mellow. Also, I'm in Gerlach right now and it's very mellow. You're being fed a line of bullshit by the media becuase they are hoping for a catastrophe. But having to walk to get a cocktail instead of hoping an art car isn't one.
Posted by: Secret Master    2023-09-03 18:22  

#15  Perhaps they should elect a mayor and settle in for the long haul.
Posted by: Besoeker   2023-09-03 16:46  

#14  Looked like it rained again today. They are screwed.
Posted by: Remoteman   2023-09-03 16:37  

#13  I guess worshipping Gaia comes with no guarantees...
Posted by: M. Murcek   2023-09-03 14:50  

#12  Hey, you wanted to get back to nature. Experience nature!
Nature doesn't give a flying frak about your comfort, how much that cost, how much work it was, or when you gotta be back at work.
Nature don't care!
Posted by: ed in texas   2023-09-03 13:09  

#11  Life Finds a Way, or, And to Think That I Saw It on Rothermere's Sheet

They murdered poor Gaia -- good gravy! --
To roll in a mudhole. Well, maybe
You'd call that a fail,
But tattooed LA whale
Dirty D had some Persian girl's baby!
Posted by: Omeamp Ebbeans8211   2023-09-03 11:50  

#10  a number of permanately stuck vehicles, structures and trailers that might forever be a monument to mankind's stupidity on that supposedly hallowed plain.

Sorta like Cadillac Ranch, but stupider.

Posted by: SteveS   2023-09-03 11:06  

#9  City types like "roughing it." Until it actually gets rough...
Posted by: M. Murcek   2023-09-03 10:40  

#8  Is it wrong for my schadenfreud meter to be pinned?
Posted by: AlanC   2023-09-03 10:31  

#7  Can't ride their bikes?! Oh noz!
Posted by: swksvolFF   2023-09-03 10:19  

#6  Since the weather guessers all had this rain event highlighted and were pissing their pants on the amount of rain a d the fallout from it 24-7 on tv and radio, pardon me if my giveashit for these people is somewhere below the Titan victims. They even had eco-terrerists blocking the road; so evidently even those losers knew what was about to happen.
Posted by: USN, Ret.   2023-09-03 10:16  

#5  Concerts and cruises...sorry, not for me.
Posted by: Besoeker   2023-09-03 09:59  

#4  Having experienced that clay (not at Burning Man, mind you), I will guess that there will be a number of perminately stuck vehicles, structures and trailers that might forever be a monument to mankind's stupidity on that supposedly hallowed plain.
Posted by: Mullah Richard   2023-09-03 08:55  

#3  Portents and Signs?
Posted by: Procopius2k   2023-09-03 08:28  

#2  Caliche clay. The worst.

Burning Man descends into chaos as one person DIES at flooded festival after officials closed gates, 'trapping' 73,000 revelers in hypothermic conditions - and told them to conserve water and food
Posted by: Skidmark   2023-09-03 08:08  

#1  From the description of the mud, it's going to be pretty rough to get out at any ruts you'ceding into, once it dries.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey   2023-09-03 06:13  

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