Torrential rains and floods even in the arid and dusty American deserts. More than 70,000 Burning Man festival-goers have been stranded by rain and mud in remote desert since Friday evening Black Rock in Nevada, USA. A severe storm discharged in a single day a volume of rain equivalent to that of two or three months. Participants stranded in mud were asked by the authorities to keep water, food and fuel. Black Rock City, the “city” that is built every year for the festival and then dismantled, is isolated. The police have blocked access to the area, allowing traffic only to emergency vehicles. Few have managed, with difficulty, to walk the 8 km that separate them from the first road where they can hitchhike.”It felt like having two bricks on your feet” one of the defectors told the Cnn. The majority will perhaps have to wait days to leave their place, in an increasingly precarious situation also due to the now out of use toilets and the tents submerged in mud.
The authorities are also investigating the death of a person, whose personal details have not been disclosed. The traditional highlight of the event, born as an underground gathering but which over the years has become a destination for celebrities and Silicon Valley VIPs, has been postponed for now: the burning on the eve of Labor Day of a gigantic wooden puppet with human features, “the man who it burns”.
Usa, bad weather knocks out the Burning Man: the sand becomes mud and the authorities evacuate the area
US President Biden: ‘No one can deny the impact of the climate crisis’
A similar event also recently hit Death Valley National Park in California, generally one of the hottest places on the planet, forced to close after an entire year’s rain fell in 24 hours. “I think no one can deny the impact of the climate crisis anymore,” US President Biden commented on Saturday in Florida after Hurricane Idalia. Biden has made the fight against climate change one of the key objectives of his presidency, with a commitment to halve US emissions by 2030, also with huge investments in green energy and electric vehicles. But while some of his Republican rivals for the White House deny or relativize the problem, so far he has not heeded the appeal of those asking him to proclaim a national climate emergency: a step that would give him more powers to fight the events extreme weather affecting the country with increasing frequency and intensity.
Five of America’s largest insurers no longer offer disaster coverage in more vulnerable areas, such as coastal areas, while others limit it and increase costs. The industry has paid out $295 billion in climate change-related damages over the past three years, and natural catastrophes have already caused $40 billion in insurance losses in the first six months of this year, the third most expensive half-year ever.
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