Safety Crisis by Poppy Super Bloom Tourists in California

Poppy fields in Lake Elsinore, California, was forced to shut down temporarily to public citing a “public safety crisis” as visitors trampled blooms and caused traffic jams.
The “super bloom” in Lake Elsinore, a special time of year when all the flowers off of Interstate 15 bloom at the same time in a stunning display of color.
The rare occurrence, which usually happens once a decade, came after a heavy rain season that brought an end to the state’s seven-year drought.
A super bloom occurred in 2017 as well, but a city official described this year’s as the largest Lake Elsinore has seen in 30 years and The town of 66,000 saw some 50,000 tourists have flocked to see this “superbloom” of poppies.
“We’ve seen much larger crowds this year because the bloom is bigger than ever, “told Nicole Dailey, Assistant to the Lake Elsinore City Manager
A dense spread of wildflowers posting photos tagged #superbloom. But for the town of Lake Elsinore, the influx of visitors quickly became a #poppynightmare.

The Instagram culture of taking photos from high peaks or waterfalls, with wild animals, or even hanging out of moving trains, is often a subject of concern since it allegedly promotes doing dangerous stunts just to get a good photo.
The crowds also faced another obstacle: rattlesnakes, who are waking up from hibernation this spring and are at their most active. At least one visitor was bitten, while another visitor was injured by scrambling up rocks off the paths.
The city authority said, “no shuttles or visitors will be allowed into Walker Canyon’ and called it a public safety emergency using hashtags like #PoppyShutdown, #PoppyNightmare, #IsItOverYet, and #HanginthereLE, according to an announcement on their Facebook page.
“This weekend has been unbearable,” the Facebook post said. “We will evaluate all options next week including ways to shut this down. …We know it has been miserable and has caused unnecessary hardships for our entire community.”
>Juthy Saha