Over 70,000 attendees of the annual Burning Man festival in the Black Rock desert of Nevada are stranded as the festival comes to a close on Monday due to heavy rains that have cut off access to the site. Attendees have been ordered to shelter in place and to conserve food, water, and fuel, although no shortages have been reported. A death that occurred at the festival is currently under investigation, but no details have been released, including the identity of the deceased or the suspected cause of death. All traffic apart from emergency vehicles in and out of the festival site has been halted. More rain is forecast at the festival site on Sunday afternoon. Local officials said some attendees have been walking out of the site, but conditions remain too wet and muddy for vehicles to get out and could trap many attendees at the site for days. “We do not currently have an estimated time for the roads to be dry enough for RVs or vehicles to navigate safely. Monday late in the day would be possible if weather conditions are in our favor. We will let you know. It could be sooner, and it could be later,” said an update on the Burning Man website on Saturday evening. “We are also deploying buses to Gerlach to take people to Reno who might walk off the playa. See our recommendations on when walking is viable or not. This is not likely a 24-hour operation at this time.” The update said the site is working to set up mobile cell service and internet trailers at the festival site and trying to configure the organization’s on-site wifi for public access. In an updated statement on Sunday morning, Burning Man Festival said it planned to “burn the man”, the burning of a giant sculpture to cap off the event, if weather permits. The festival said the roads remain too wet and muddy to officially reopen yet, with a driving ban still in effect. “Most people who come in here have come multiple years and are prepared for the unexpected,” said Gillian Morris, a Burning Man attendee. Morris has been to the festival six times and said it was the first time they have experienced any rain at the event. She said some attendees have embarked on the five-mile walk from the festival site to main roads, but that she is in no rush to leave, and festivities have continued and much of the playa remains dry. “I would imagine there is going to be a huge traffic jam getting out, and I’d rather sit and enjoy myself and party,” she added. “It’s the first time I’ve seen any rain whatsoever, but it’s nothing we can’t handle.” Neal Katyal, an acting solicitor general during the Obama administration, posted an update on Twitter after hiking six miles from the remote site late on Saturday night. “We decided to make the hike, but it is very slippery, and the mud is like cement and sticks to your boots. It also has some quicksand properties — it grabs your boots and sometimes you are stuck,” said Katyal. “No one should try this unless in good shape and part of a group. It was quite hard and will get harder if/when it rains more. Talk your friends out of the hike unless you really think they can do it safely. There are treacherous places where it is worse than walking on ice.” He said there was no cell reception at the site or for the majority of the hike. Photos from the event shoed attendees wearing trash bags on their feet to wade through the mud and portable toilets that have not been able to be serviced due to the conditions. Rumors have swirled around this year’s festival, including false rumors of an Ebola outbreak fueled by false social media posts about an evacuation due to a suspicious package at LAX airport in Los Angeles. The festival drew headlines from the start when climate activists attempted to blockade attendees from the festival site, blocking traffic for about an hour and clashing with attendees and local police in protest of the carbon footprint of the festival. The festival gets its name from its culminating event, the burning of a large wooden structure called the Man on the penultimate night. It attracts ten of thousands people every year, who come to make art and dance at a cost of $575 per person for a regular ticket. The gathering, which originated as a small function in 1986 on a San Francisco beach, is now also attended by celebrities, Silicon Valley executives and social media influencers.