The entrance to the Burning Man counterculture festival in the Nevada desert was closed and attendees were urged to shelter in place Saturday as flooding from storms swept through the area.
The entrance will be closed for the remainder of the event, which began on Aug. 27 and was scheduled to end on Monday, according to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which oversees the Black Rock Desert where the festival is being held. Organizers urged festivalgoers to conserve their food, water and fuel.
The Black Rock City Municipal Airport, a temporary pop-up airport used by festival goers every summer specifically for Burning Man, was closed as of Saturday afternoon, the festival said.
“All event access is currently closed,” the festival said, and no driving was permitted except for emergency vehicles.
About 6 inches of rain is believed to have fallen on Friday at the festival site, located about 110 miles north of Reno, the National Weather Service in Reno said. There was a chance of showers and thunderstorms Saturday night and Sunday, the festival said on its website, with a quarter-inch of rain forecast for Sunday.
Superstar DJ and music producer Diplo shared a video to social media Saturday afternoon that showed several people riding on the back of a truck, one of whom appeared to be comedian Chris Rock.
“Just walked 5 miles in the mud out of burning man with chris rock and a fan picked us up,” Diplo wrote.
Spencer Brown, another DJ, posted to social media Saturday that there was “absolutely crazy flooding right now, but I, along with my camp, am safe with plenty of water, food, and shelter. Turning off the Starlink to conserve power.”
Thanks for reading CBS NEWS.
Create your free account or log in
for more features.