“The sets were all under water,” coordinator Toby Payne said. “The wind blew all the lighting and fixtures over. Everything was full of water. We tried to salvage what we could. It was a mess.”

Payne took the disaster in stride, vowing to return next year with another production.

“We were just not able to recoup and go on,” Payne said. “This is only the second time in 54 years that the pageant has been canceled. It was canceled once before because of snow.

“We’ll be back next year with the 55th pageant and we’ll be fine. Ron McGee went and tried to save it all but it was useless. There was just too much water.”

Payne credited the community volunteers for getting their job done.

“All the effort was done,” he said. “Everyone did what they were supposed to do. You can’t do anything about the weather. We’ll be alright. We’ll be fine. We’ve always got next year.”