We've got brand new video into CNN.
It shows a huge caravan of vehicles
trying to leave the desert.
You see how large that lineup
actually is.
That's in Nevada
at the Burning Man Festival.
The good news today.
The sun is shining,
which means the road
to get out of the festival is drying.
Officials have said that
next hour
they expect more people to begin
to head out.
Tens of thousands,
though, have been stranded
in the mud
for days
after two to three months of rain
swamped the area in just 24 hours.
I talked to one attendee last hour
and here's what she said
about the situation on the ground that
there's a really, really long line
trying to get out.
Some people are leaving,
I think mostly the four wheel
drives, the super type vehicles,
not the passenger cars yet.
There are a few of those stuck.
Or as you drive,
you're going to accumulate mud
on those tires and those seats.
It makes everything harder
and you don't want to get stuck in this
and then prevent other people
from leaving.
So it's everybody's
being really cool about it.
We're just biding our time.
CNN national correspondent
Nic White is covering this story for us.
So what is the latest
that officials are saying about
when these roads
could reopen
in a safe way
to start getting people out?
Well, the latest we heard,
Omar, is in about an hour from now.
They say that for the moment,
the roads are still too
wet and muddy for most vehicles,
but not all.
We have seen some four wheel
drive vehicles
getting out late last night and also
this morning, you know.
70 plus thousand people stuck in there.
And CNN
is spoken to some of those
who've managed to get out so far.
And they describe,
you know, as seen on Saturday,
everyone waiting for
that man to be burned,
the kind of climax of this festival.
The rain started and initially,
you know,
people were dancing in the mud,
having a good time.
And then gradually
there was a realization.
Hang on a second.
We're not going to be able
to get out of this.
You mentioned that
the sun is right now key.
What happens is that is Clay.
It's a dried up ancient lake.
The rain comes makes it totally slick.
The water just sticks on top.
Which makes it hugely problematic
to get out.
But also,
if the rain
the water is still on top,
that means the sun can dry it.
And that's what we're seeing right now.
You know,
there is an ethos of kind
of self-reliance around this festival.
And a lot of people did
bring in everything
they needed to survive for a few days.
They were planning to be there
and a little bit extra
But we have heard that some people were
not so well prepared
and it got pretty terrible for people.
There camps were washed away.
It's the desert. It got cold at night.
And then, of course,
Omar, there were some people
who walked out,
including a little clique of celebrities,
including Chris Rock.
I'll let DJ Diplo take up that story.
Take a listen.
That is New York Knicks.
Check it out.
We just he just got up with us
and started walking
and we walked about 3 hours
in the mud and he was happy with me.
I think Cindy Crawford
walked through this Kaia Gerber,
Austin Butler,
Randy Gerber,
a writer, a couple producers from TV,
a couple people who just wanted
to get home to their children.
And they didn't take no for an answer.
So those walkers managed
to get to an actual road out of the mud
after a few hours.
And a guy in a passing pickup truck
apparently recognized DJ Diplo
and gave them a ride.
And eventually they all made it to Reno.
But during the day
today, Omar, we're going to try
and hopefully
see the mass exodus, the 70,000
plus people coming out.
But some people are going to stick it out
a little bit longer
because they plan
to burn the man tonight.
So there are people
who want to stay there until the end.
And, you know,
they'll just be praying for no more rain
and there is no more rain
in the forecast.
So fingers crossed Omar starts to walk
from Diplo.
But hopefully for the folks
that are left behind,
they get some relief very soon.
Nick Watt, thank you very much.
Let's get you a picture now
of the situation on the ground
at Burning Man
with a festival go
where Cutter
Palacios is
on the ground there right now.
Cutter, thanks so much for being with us.
So the organizers say the departures
officially are set to begin
in about an hour.
I'm wondering what your plan is.
Are you planning to leave or stick around
We're going to see the burn.
I think it's great
because they're doing
all three burns tonight.
So the man's at nine.
The Chapel of Babble is
is at midnight
and in the temples at 1 a.m..
So this is awesome.
We are hoping to leave by Tuesday
or Wednesday.
And the fact that we're doing it
all in one night of celebration
and then we're going to join
the mass exodus of people
in line
for hours and hours tomorrow.
And then we get home.
Middle of the night,
but we stay on Wednesday nights.
So cover for folks
that are not initiated in the rituals
and the ethos, the spirit of Burning Man.
What is it that drives
so many people out there to the desert?
Because it kind of surprises me
that you're saying this is awesome.
While it looks from the outside
like a mess,
it's messy.
Yeah.
I think that's sort of the thrill of it.
I mean,
certainly people come out here
and they're winning
the festival experience,
but the majority of us
are winning some great community
or wanting to create a city
from essentially nothing.
We bring in our self-reliance
or radical
self-reliance and
a big spirit is gifting.
Last night we had a neighboring tent
because we're not part of the camp,
but we had a neighboring camp
giving out pizza
and they had vegan pizza.
So we just all sat around a fire
eating pizza.
I have a friend down
at the French Quarter
who is like serving up lobster, you know,
which is a real treat.
And for those who are in need,
we all help each other out.
And that's just
that's not something
that you get to see every day
and you get to experience
for an entire week,
especially through these hardships.
Really, took care of one another.
And I think that's that's incredible.
That is incredible.
Especially lobster and vegan pizza.
It sounds like you have
basic necessities covered
in food, shelter, water.
You know,
that's really
what you need to be out here.
I did not plan for rain.
I didn't bring a raincoat
but we were improvising.
We use trash bags.
There is definitely some foot
where those being improvised.
Some people are going barefoot.
And there was like
the plastic bag over the sock.
No, no, no. It's a plastic bag.
And then the sock.
And then eventually the radio came out
and told us
it was a shoe and the sock over the shoe.
I don't know about all that.
I just went with a tried and true sock
and the shoe over sock,
and that seemed to work for me.
So I'm
glad I'm glad you were able to
find a system to get through the mud.
There were reports, though, Cutter,
I want to ask you about this.
There were reports that misinformation
was spreading around festival goers,
rumors, false rumors.
I should point out about Ebola spreading.
A SWAT team at one point was called in
because a shooting was reported.
Did you come across any of that
I don't know about Ebola.
I will say
and I don't know about the SWAT team,
but we did
get police vehicles
coming through the walk in were
we're out at two 30 and walk in,
which is where there's no cars allowed.
Police did did respond very quickly
to whatever that report was.
I think it's important to note,
like in terms of communication,
there's not a lot of communication
out here.
You have a radio
and they are doing the best they can
to communicate accurate information
from from officials
and from outside sources.
But just listening
to the CNN stuff going on you
that's more news
I've heard
since I've been out here for a week.
Congrats to the astronauts landing.
But yeah, it's word of mouth
and and that's really cool, too.
And you do the best you can.
And one of the principles out here
is immediacy.
You know, it
generally means that
you see something cool
and you're call to
go and participate in it
and help out and explore
and live life out here.
And it also means that news
and word of mouth,
it's it's moment to moment as well.
That makes sense.
We're really glad that you're doing well.
I hope you enjoy that lobster
and the vegan pizza.
And I hope
you get to enjoy the burnings tonight
and a smooth ride back home to you.
Cutter Palacios,
thanks so much for being with us.