(CNN) — Thousands of Burning Man attendees finally made their mass exodus after intense rain over the weekend flooded campsites and filled them with thick, ankle-deep mud – stranding more than 70,000 free-spirited revelers as they waited for the Nevada desert city to dry out.
Organizers officially announced the driving ban that was imposed amid heavy rains Friday had been lifted Monday afternoon, and attendees could safely leave Black Rock City, the makeshift city erected every year for the event.
The area was still muddy and parts were still difficult to navigate, organizers warned, and the wait time to leave the city Monday night was about seven hours. But that’s not unusual: It’s taken six to nine hours during peak travel times in past years, according to a Burning Man website.
By Tuesday morning, the situation had improved significantly:
“There is an estimated 2-3 hour wait to leave Black Rock City,” festival organizers posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “Everyone should get plenty of rest before starting to travel on the highway. Expect delays and be alert for debris from other vehicles on the highway at higher speeds. Travel Safe.”
For many attendees, getting stranded in the desert and missing flights and other responsibilities was stressful and unsettling. But some said the weather issues brought camp communities closer together, as people shared food and resources, offered shelter to those who needed it, and gathered together.
“As soon as the tents started getting water-logged or unlivable, people in RVs started taking in some of the tenters, so everybody was warm,” Kaz Qamruddin, who attended the event, told CNN’s Brianna Keilar Monday.
“We are a community that comes together in hard times,” he said, later adding, “It’s all about coming together and working as a team.”
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.