The town with too many tourists

A town in America this week was inundated with so many tourists, its city officials called the situation unbearable.

Lake Elsinore, California, has been dealing with “Disneyland-sized crowds” recently and in response have shut down the town’s main attraction, Walker Canyon.

Tens of thousands of flower-mad tourists and Instagrammers descended on the town to get a look at the “super bloom” of poppies which happens every year at around this time. All the flowers on Interstate 15 bloom at the same time in a stunning display of colour and this year the phenomenon has inspired a flood of tourists that has strained the resources on the small city of only 66,000 residents.

“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,” the city said in a statement on Sunday on social media.

At least one injury was reported on Saturday, as the flowers grow on steep sides of the canyon that are not developed for pedestrians, while USA Today reported sightings of people trying to take photos by climbing or hiking to dangerous spots, sometimes involving their pets and children as well.

“The city has expended all available resources to address the #SuperBloom,” the city said in post on Saturday. “Our small city cannot sustain crowds of this magnitude…We are running out of options.”

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.