- Thousands of people are stuck at the Burning Man festival after a rainstorm on Friday night.
- Festival organizers told Insider they have prepared for "events like this."
Mobile cell service trailers and buses are being deployed for tens of thousands of people who may be stranded at the Burning Man Festival in Black Rock Desert, Nevada, festival organizers told Insider in a statement.
A rainstorm on Friday brought muddy conditions and heavy flooding on roads, forcing organizers to close the entrance to the festival. On Saturday, organizers instructed attendees to shelter in place and conserve food and water.
The conditions may come with health risks such as hypothermia, stomach bugs, and food-borne illness if storm conditions persist, a physician who previously attended Burning Man told Insider.
One attendee died "during this rain event," the Pershing County Sheriff's Office said in a press release on Saturday evening. A cause was not disclosed, and the death remains under investigation, the sheriff's office said.
The office added in its statement that the area is expecting more rain "for the next few days which could cause further delays and disruptions" at the festival.
Dominique Debucquoy-Dodley, a festival spokesperson, told Insider in an email that the organizers have conducted "table-top drills for events like this" and are preparing to provide an exit for attendees as their next priority.
In the meantime, Debucquoy-Dodley said mobile cell trailers have been placed in "strategic positions" to allow internet access on Saturday evening.
The spokesperson added that buses are being deployed to Gerlach — a small Nevada town attendees drive through to get to the festival — to transport people to Reno.
Debucquoy-Dodley did not specify how many buses are being deployed.
"Today we met with all of our agency collaborators on the local, county, state, tribal, and federal levels. We are in constant communication with those agencies," Debucquoy-Dodley said. "We will update the community via our staff networks, our community networks, BMIR (Burning Man Information Radio), and our X (formerly Twitter) accounts, and Facebook."
Angie Peacock, a first-time Burning Man attendee, told Insider that her camp of 300 people has been rationing resources and will be able to sustain everyone until Wednesday, if necessary.
She did not receive word about cell signal trailers or buses, Peacock said in a text.
Representatives for Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo and the state's National Guard did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider.