Thousands of Burners are starting to leave after sheltering in place most of the weekend due to weather. 

Burning Man Project says Gate Road is starting to dry out. 

Black Rock City Airport re-opened at noon and is only accepting Burner Express flights bound for Reno. On Tuesday, Burner Express flights will start at 6:30am to Burbank, Oakland and Reno. A shuttle will be available from the bus depot to the airport.

Organizers closed the festival to vehicles after more than a half an inch (1.3 centimeters) of rain on Friday drenched the Black Rock Desert about 110 miles (177 kilometers) north of Reno.

At least one fatality has been reported at the festival, but Burning Man organizers said the death of a man in his 40s wasn't weather-related. The sheriff of nearby Pershing County said he was investigating but has not identified the man.

President Joe Biden told reporters in Delaware on Sunday that he is aware of the situation at Burning Man, including the death, and the White House is in touch with local officials. Biden said he did not know the cause of death.

Despite the unexpected scenario, Burners shared different experiences about their early departure from the event.

Some said the playa has turned into a “mud lake” where nobody could move and that the drying process made the situation worse as it turned out to be very slow.

They shared that some Burners had brought enough food and resources for the remainder of the event, but others had only planned to attend Burning Man for two or three days, leading to their supplies running low.

“It is apocalyptic up there right now,” Burner Paul Tan said. “I don't know how they're going to empty out and exodus, they call it. I don't know how that's going to happen with 67,000 people."

Exodus tips

Other Burners, however, said they were still able to make the most out of the event even with extreme weather conditions.

“On the ground things actually felt not only safe and comfortable for the vast majority of people, in my impression, but actually fun because we were all there as a community and we actually came together and made the best of it,” Burner Elizabeth Bershad said.

With a lot of cars getting stuck in the mud and people not being able to leave, burners said the community got together to help each other out.

They said the community was overall prepared to deal with the circumstances and that the Burning Man Organization did a good job of assisting the attendees.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)