BILOXI — For the first time in its 61-year history, the Mississippi Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo shut down operations when a severe thunderstorm sailed through Point Cadet late Saturday afternoon.

Due to stiff winds and heavy rainfall, the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department ordered those in attendance to exit the 160-by-80 foot tent as water collected on the top of the 12,800-square foot cover.

‘’For the first time that I can remember, we were forced to shut down,’’ rodeo director Ree Elliott said. ‘’And I’ve been here for a long time. It hurts us because this is our biggest day.

‘’When the storm hit, we had people waiting at the gate.’’

The call from the sheriff’s department came at 4:40 p.m., forcing the midway carnival and all vendors to shut down for safety reasons.

It also forced all weighing of fish to halt for the remainder of the day.

Three hours after shutting down, the midway and vendors were allowed to resume as well as festivities inside the tent.

Weighing of fish, however, will resume at noon today, including the speckled trout and redfish shootouts along with the bass shootout.

Only anglers who checked in with rodeo officials before the shutdown will be allowed to weigh fish today.

All shootout scales will close at 3 p.m. with the main rodeo scales closing at 4 p.m.

When the gate reopened, an estimated 400 people were waiting in line, some for the first time and others to re-enter.

‘’We are sorry for the inconvenience,” rodeo director Bryce Gex said.

“In all competitive events, you have weather cancellations and postponements and we are no exception.

“When we reopened the gates, it was incredible at the number of people waiting in line. We will be accepting fish today starting at noon for the final run at the leaderboard

Posted at www.sunherald.com on July 4, 2009