Burning Man attendees advised to 'shelter in place,' conserve food and water due to heavy rain
Movement in and out of Black Rock City has been halted and the airport is closed, according to organizers.
People walk through the mud at Burning Man
People walk through the mud at Burning Man in Black Rock City, Nev., on Sept. 2.Trevor Hughes / USA TODAY NETWORK


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Sept. 2, 2023, 2:16 PM EDT
By Mirna Alsharif
Burning Man attendees were advised to "shelter in place" and conserve food and water on Friday due to ongoing heavy rain in northwestern Nevada’s Black Rock Desert.

As of Friday evening, movement in and out of Black Rock City has been halted. The gate and airport have also been closed, according to organizers.

Burning Man is an event of self-expression that culminates in the torching of a 40-foot effigy. The practice originated with the burning of an 8-foot wooden “man” in 1986 on San Francisco’s Baker Beach, which evolved into an annual event in Black Rock Desert.

Driving in Black Rock City is prohibited except for emergency vehicles.

“Stay prepared for adverse weather conditions continuing through the night and into Saturday,” the organizers tweeted Friday.

Heavy rainfall affected the state Friday with the threat of flash floods looming over eastern, north central, northeast and south central Nevada, according to the National Weather Service.

"Flash flooding threat increasing for the Labor Day holiday weekend as a slow moving upper trough taps into tropical/monsoonal moisture," the agency said in a Saturday morning update. "This will fuel multiple rounds of showers and thunderstorms bringing heavy rainfall to northern and central Nevada."

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The flash flood watch will remain in effect for the region through Monday morning.

Overnight, Black Rock City received around 0.6 to 0.8 an inch of rain, according to a Saturday morning update from organizers.

"The low pressure system responsible for yesterday's rain has shifted west, leaving us with partly sunny skies and light winds today. However, rain returns early Sunday morning and continues through the afternoon as the low pressure system moves eastward across Black Rock City and exits the region," according to the update.


“If you are in BRC, conserve food, water and fuel, and shelter in a warm, safe space,” organizers continued to warn Saturday.

It's not clear how many people attended this year's festivities, but tens of thousands usually gather in Black Rock Desert annually for the event, according to Burningman.org.

The event began Aug. 27 and is expected to run through Sept. 4.


Mirna Alsharif

i been watching matt rife all day.

funny guy.

but than twitter notified me i have messages. yeah i dont go there.

and then it said a suspicious person tried to log in to my account in another country.

omg!

i forget my vpn shows me in another country today.

yeah, bite me. its been a difficult couple days and i expect hell to break out tonite.

matt rife will have me prepared i tell u what.

Marijuana users found to have lead and another heavy metal in their blood and urine
Compared to people who didn’t use marijuana or tobacco, marijuana users had 27% higher levels of lead in their blood, according to a new study.

Image: A marijuana plant in Oakland, Calif., in 2020.
As many as 28 states regulate arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury in marijuana products. Kelsey McClellan / NYT via Redux, file
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Aug. 30, 2023, 2:05 PM EDT
By Aria Bendix
Some marijuana users may have elevated levels of lead and cadmium — two heavy metals linked to long-term health issues — in their blood and urine, a new study shows.

Among a group of more than 7,200 adults, the 358 who reported using marijuana within the past 30 days were found to have 27% higher blood lead levels than those who said they didn’t use either marijuana or tobacco.


The marijuana users also had 22% higher levels of cadmium in their blood, according to the research, which was published Wednesday in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. Urine samples showed similar results.

The researchers, a team at Columbia University, knew going in that cannabis plants can absorb heavy metals from soil and, in fact, are particularly good at doing so. The contaminants travel through the stalk of the plant into the leaves and flowers.

But the new findings demonstrate that heavy metals in cannabis plants can also wind up in the human body.

There is no safe amount of lead exposure, since even low levels can slow children’s brain development and result in learning and behavioral problems. In adults, chronic exposure to lead increases the risk of high blood pressure, heart problems and kidney damage.


Cadmium, meanwhile, is considered a human carcinogen by the World Health Organization. Exposure to low levels, such as through tobacco smoke, may lead to kidney disease and fragile bones.

“For both cadmium and lead, these metals are likely to stay in the body for years, long after exposure ends,” said Tiffany Sanchez, an author of the study and an assistant professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health.

For their research, Sanchez and her team analyzed data from blood and urine samples collected between 2005 and 2018 as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a program conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics.

The data set didn’t distinguish between different ways participants consumed marijuana, such as edibles or joints. But generally speaking, Sanchez said, inhaling lead is worse than eating it in food.


“The absorption rate from inhalation is 100%,” she said.

Idalia heads into Georgia, the Carolinas as downgraded hurricane
Georgia officials say Hurricane Idalia is bringing down power lines
Bradford Betz By Bradford Betz Fox News
Published August 30, 2023 4:02pm EDT


Hurricane Idalia striking through homes
Hurricane Idalia, which made landfall in Florida as a dangerous Category 3 storm early Wednesday is now crossing Georgia and headed toward South Carolina, as a downgraded hurricane.

The National Hurricane Center's 2 p.m. update indicated that Idalia's center was about 100 miles southwest of Savannah, Georgia, with top sustained winds of 75 mph, slightly above a hurricane force at 74 mph.

Hurricane-Idalia-Florida
Floodwaters from Hurricane Idalia devastate local businesses and homes in Crystal River, Florida on Wednesday, August 30, 2023. (Mayor Joe Meek/Facebook )

Georgia officials say Hurricane Idalia is bringing down power lines and resulting in scattered reports of buildings damaged by falling trees.

Around 175,000 customers were without power in Georgia, where the storm's center was approaching Savannah.

Hurricane-Idalia-Florida
Floodwaters from Hurricane Idalia devastate local businesses and homes in Crystal River, Florida on Wednesday, August 30, 2023. (Jenna Alves)

Gov. Brian Kemp said Wednesday that the storm's impacts initially appeared to be less severe than 2018's Hurricane Michael, which caused widespread damage in south Georgia. This storm is narrow and moving fast, but he warned those in its path to be aware of the dangers.

Multiple counties in Georgia saw winds between 70 and 80 mph, with some gusts up to 90 mph, Kemp said. Other areas were anticipating nine to 10 inches of rain.

Hurricane-Idalia-Florida
Floodwaters from Hurricane Idalia devastate local businesses and homes in Crystal River, Florida on Wednesday, August 30, 2023. (Jenna Alves)

Georgia Emergency Management Agency meteorologist Will Lanxton says storm surge will likely be limited by the storm's speed, but there could be minor to moderate flooding around Savannah at high tide Wednesday evening.

In South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster said for the time being that no state officers would be closed and there would be no mandatory evacuation.

"This is not as bad as some we've seen," said McMaster, who has ordered at least three coastal evacuations since taking office in 2017.

FLORIDA HURRICANE IDALIA TRACKER: LIVE FUTURE PATH, WATCHES, WARNINGS, SPAGHETTI MODELS AND MORE

He said the state is ready to respond if the storm is worse than anticipated – and he encouraged people to stay home.

Flooding could be the state's biggest threat. Wednesday evening’s high tide in Charleston Harbor is forecast to be nearly 9 feet above normal sea level or about 3 feet above normal high tide.

The city opened parking garages so people could park well above ground and gathered barricades to close off streets in the low-lying city, which frequently floods whenever tides are above normal.

Later Wednesday, a tornado was observed in Charleston County, South Carolina, as two waterspouts moved into land in Folly Beach, according to Fox Weather.

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North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said the state is anticipating possible flash flooding across the Piedmont and coastal plain. Tropical storm warnings remain in effect for the entire coast.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Bradford Betz is a Fox News Digital breaking reporter covering crime, political issues, and much more.

Hurricane Idalia makes landfall over Florida's Big Bend as a Category 3, hundreds of thousands without power
Hurricane Idalia directly impacting Gainesville, Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Dowling Park, Lake City, Cedar Key, and other Florida cities
By Lawrence Richard , Bradford Betz Fox News
Published August 30, 2023 7:48am EDT | Updated August 30, 2023 11:45am EDT
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WATCH LIVE: Gov. DeSantis delivers update after Hurricane Idalia batters FloridaVideo
WATCH LIVE: Gov. DeSantis delivers update after Hurricane Idalia batters Florida
The storm has already shattered records after making landfall this morning.

Hurricane Idalia made landfall over Florida’s Gulf Coast as a "catastrophic" Category 3 storm Wednesday at 7:45 a.m., leaving hundreds of thousands of residents without power, officials said. It has since been downgraded to a Category 1 storm.

Idalia produced storm surges that reached several feet in some areas and brought damaging winds that howled up to 130 miles per hour at one point, according to the National Hurricane Center. It also caused flooding that completely encompassed Floridian roadways when it passed the Apalachee Bay and made landfall over Florida's Big Bend region, where the peninsula merges into the Panhandle.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he had directed law enforcement to "protect people's property.

"We are not going to tolerate any looting in the aftermath of a natural disaster. I mean it's just ridiculous that you would try to do something like that on the heels of an almost Category 4 hurricane hitting this community," DeSantis said.

He warned would-be looters that they could very well be walking into the home of a Second Amendment advocate.

"I've seen signs in people's yards, and I would say it's probably here, ‘You Loot, We Shoot.’ You never know what's behind that door," DeSantis said.

HURRICANE IDALIA MAKES HISTORIC LANDFALL IN FLORIDA

President Biden said he had spoken with the governors of states most impacted by the storm and vowed all federal assistance, including 1,500 personnel and 900 Coast Guard personnel throughout the southeast.

"Federal teams on the ground are going to continue to work with the first responders in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, to get people to safety," Biden said.

Hurricane-Idalia-Florida
Floodwaters from Hurricane Idalia devastate local businesses and homes in Crystal River, Florida on Wednesday, August 30, 2023. (Jenna Alves)

At least two people have died in vehicle accidents since the storm made landfall, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. In Pasco County, a 40-year-old male lost control of his Ford Ranger and collided into a tree after driving too fast for the weather conditions, while a 59-year-old male died in Alachua County after his Toyota Tacoma plunged into a ditch and crashed into a nearby tree line, officials said.

The storm has been impacting Gainesville, Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Dowling Park, Lake City, Cedar Key, Chiefland, Newberry, Cross City, Apalachicola, and Perry. Its impact will also be felt in Orlando, Spring Hill, Bradenton, Bartow, Ocala, Lake Placid, Tampa, Sarasota, and Fort Myers.

Flooding in Tampa from Hurricane Idalia
This photo provided by the Florida Department of Transportation shows flooded Interstate 275 Over Tampa Bay, Florida, on Wednesday, Aug. 30. (FDOT via AP)

By 11 a.m. Wednesday, the storm was a Category 1, with sustained winds of 90 mph, and its impact was being felt in Georgia, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Authorities continue to urge caution as, despite the slight decline, the storm remains dangerous and potentially life-threatening.

More than 340,000 Americans were without power as Idalia continued to blast Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and the Carolina, according to Fox Weather.

Hurricane-Idalia-Florida
Floodwaters from Hurricane Idalia devastate local businesses and homes in Crystal River, Florida on Wednesday, August 30, 2023. (Jenna Alves)

"As you'd imagine, the counties that have the highest percentage of power outages are the counties that were in the main pathway of the storm," Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a midday press conference. "Counties like Dixie Levy, Taylor, Swanee, Madison, Jefferson and Columbia. Utility workers are actively working to restore power in all affected areas, and they started doing that as soon as it was safe to do so."

FOX Weather correspondent Robert Ray
FOX Weather correspondent Robert Ray was nearly hit by a piece of palm tree while being blasted by strong winds and torrential rain during a report on Hurricane Idalia in Clearwater, Florida, on Wednesday morning. (FOX Weather)

Further outages are expected as the storm continues pummeling the state as Idalia continues its northeast path to Georgia, the Carolinas and then the Atlantic Ocean.

"So far right now, the biggest impacted area that we have following up on what the governor said is seems to be in Perry [County] right now," said Kevin Guthrie, the executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management. "We know we have a couple of businesses that have caught on fire, a few that have roofs knocked off of them, maybe potentially one collapse."


FreddyBouciegues1 (Courtesy of Freddy Bouciegues)

"Madison County is another county that has been impacted. They have a lot of debris on the ground," he added. "They have about 99% power outages in that particular county."

A tree also fell on the grounds of the governor's mansion in Tallahassee.

"I don't know if they're going to cut down the whole tree or if they do cut down the whole tree, that's just going to be more room for my kids to hit baseballs in," DeSantis said about that incident. "And so in some respects, for us, even though the tree was nice, we'll probably make do and just be be, be quite all right."

Chinook helicopters
Florida Army National Guard soldiers with the 1-111th Aviation Regiment load pallets of water and Meals Ready-To-Eat(MREs) onto be distrubuted to citizens affected by Hurricane Idalia onto a CH-47F Chinook helicopter at Cecil Field, Fla., Aug. 29, 2023. (Florida Army National Guard)

The National Weather Service in Tallahassee had called Idalia "an unprecedented event" as it rapidly intensified over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, and obtained Category 4 status within 24 hours. It downgraded slightly, officially becoming a high-end Category 3 storm when it made landfall, before downgrading again.

The NWS also said "no one" has witnessed a storm strengthen to such magnitude in such a short time.

Hurricane-Idalia-Florida
Floodwaters from Hurricane Idalia devastate local businesses and homes in Crystal River, Florida on Wednesday, August 30, 2023. (Jenna Alves)

DeSantis fully activated the Florida National Guard and its approximately 5,500 soldiers and airmen members for Hurricane Idalia response operations.

The mobilized units will "support humanitarian assistance, route clearance, search and rescue, traffic control, aviation, and security missions throughout the area of operations," the National Guard said.

"The 53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team is conducting immediate response operations with multi-purpose units in western coastal counties. We also have units providing reinforcement throughout central and northeast Florida, as well as providing support to the State Logistics Response Center (SLRC) and County Emergency Operation Centers (EOC)," its statement read.

FLORIDA HURRICANE IDALIA TRACKER: LIVE FUTURE PATH, WATCHES, WARNINGS, SPAGHETTI MODELS AND MORE

Soldiers standing
Soldiers with the Florida Army National Guard's Company A, 2nd Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment gather around First Sgt. Arthur Ledger at Charles P. Lovell Armory in Leesburg, Florida, August 28, 2023. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Marc Morgenstern)

Aircrews of the Florida Army National Guard’s Company C, 1st Battalion, 111th Aviation Regiment deployed from the Cecil Airport in Jacksonville while soldiers with the Florida Army National Guard's Company A, 2nd Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment came from Leesburg.

DeSantis also said the Florida Department of Transportation had 650 heavy vehicles currently in use and about 30,000 powerline personnel tasked with restoring power.

The metro Atlanta area is already experiencing widespread flooding as Idalia is moving through Georgia, according to Fox5 Atlanta.

The FOX Forecast Center also says Wednesday is the wettest day in Valdosta, Georgia in nearly 23 years. More than 5.5 inches of rain have fallen Wednesday in the town through 10:30 a.m. ET, with another 1-2 on the way, according to FOX Weather.

Outages were expected to grow throughout the day in Florida, we well as Georgia and South Carolina.

At a Wednesday afternoon press conference, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said no state offices would ordered.

For the Big Bend region of Florida, this is the strongest hurricane in over 150 years.

Flooding from Hurricane Idalia is seen throughout SarasotaVideo
No major hurricanes – those classified as Category 3 or higher – have made landfall through the Big Bend region since hurricane data was first recorded in 1851. Idalia is now the first.

"Idalia is expected to produce a swath of 4 to 8 inches of rainfall with isolated [totals of] up to 12 inches from the Florida Big Bend through central Georgia and South Carolina, and through eastern North Carolina into Thursday," the National Hurricane Center said in a Wednesday morning advisory. "These rainfall amounts will lead to areas of flash, urban, and moderate river flooding, with considerable impacts."

Hurricane Idalia makes landfall in FloridaVideo
State and local officials are urging caution and have specifically instructed residents to get out of vehicles, which are easily swept away by intense wind gusts and water surging through the streets.

Steady winds also bring water from the Gulf onto Florida’s beaches and roads, drowning out transportation avenues and leaving vehicles stranded.

According to NOAA, water levels in Cedar Key surpassed 10 feet Wednesday morning, breaking the previous record of 5.99 feet. The previous record was set during Hurricane Hermine in September 2016.

Hurricane Idalia flooding
Vehicles sit in a flooded street caused by Hurricane Idalia passing offshore on Aug. 30, 2023, in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Steve Gaskins, a sergeant at the Florida Highway Patrol, told FOX Weather Idalia was "a storm that is causing a lot of issues."

The "biggest" problem for emergency response crews was the flooding, he said.

Gaskins also urged residents to remain home, but if they have to travel he instructed them not to drive over standing water and to avoid downed powerlines and downed trees.

Hurricane-Idalia-Florida
A flooded street is seen near the Steinhatchee marina in Steinhatchee, Florida on Tuesday after Hurricane Idalia made landfall. (Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images)

In Tampa, resident Matthew Heller told Fox News Digital that it was "heartbreaking" to see his home being flooded.

Heller said his property backs up to the Hillsborough River and security cameras set up on his boat deck captured storm surge making its way into the lower level.

"I'm self-insured with everything, so just having to deal with all of this, its going to be a long cleanup process," he said.

HURRICANE IDALIA EVACUATIONS IN FLORIDA: THE DANGERS, STORM SAFETY TIPS AND EMERGENCY SUPPLY PACKING

Hurricane-Idalia-Florida
In an aerial view, a fire is seen as flood aters inundate the downtown area after Hurricane Idalia passed offshore on Tuesday in Tarpon Springs, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

FOX Weather aired a doorbell camera in Cedar Key that captured a Cadillac sedan, left vacate by its owner, pushed several feet by the storm as surrounding water rose for hours, eclipsing the vehicle's bumper and tires before water likely washed it away.

State of emergency orders have already been declared in at least 50 continues.

Gainesville, which is home to the University of Florida, is in the storm’s path and the school has canceled classes at this time.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Also, the Tallahassee International Airport and the Tampa International Airport have had their operations impacted.

Fox News Digital's Greg Norman and Bradford Betz contributed to this report.

i have been hacked daily.

i get the black screen of death but it does not deter me.

Rat bastards have hacked me for years.

So after setting up all day today, I get a message that i changed my password to my phone number.

Not i.

Just watch out. And, it said the change was made on my computer which always has 18 rat bastards using my wifi cuz, well, man, it costs money. yeah i know.

just be careful. and don't use a phone number as a password.

He went for a month. dunno why. he wants to travel the world and his friends are married and don't have his wealth.

Praise God he is back. texted me this morning.

texted me at 7 am to say he is back.

I never travelled and could not now anyway. but Africa? to climb a mountain? 20 shots it took to go.

Well at least he is back home somewhere.