Storms and rain couldn’t shut down Warren County’s 2010 Relay For Life, but rowdy teenagers did.

“There was just a total lack of respect for the property and for the (cancer) survivors,” said chairman Amy Burr, minutes after Relay was shut down at 10 p.m., only four hours after it opened and eight hours before it had been scheduled to end. “They’re terrorists. They’ve ruined the airports, now they’ve ruined Relay.”

Burr said about 2,000 people had attended at points during the event, which was forced inside the Warren Central High School gymnasium after storms hit the county in the afternoon and more were forecast to come in during the night. About 500 were registered to spend the night after the doors were to close to the public at midnight.

Relay for Life, an annual fundraiser for cancer patients and research, has been successfully held for more than 10 years. It usually is at Viking Stadium, where tents, folding chairs, games and food booths are encircled by walkers, sponsored by donors to the cause.

Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace used public address systems on duputies’ cruisers to announce the shutdown, a decision by the Relay board, he said.

At 10 p.m., he said, 1,000 to 1,500 young people had gathered in the school parking lot. “They were rowdy and, generally, had turned it into a giant street party.”

Fears of another band of storms approaching and no place inside to put everyone helped lead to the decision to call the event, Pace said.

But he also said the crowd scene frightened some of the registered team members.

“Relay participants were asking deputies to escort them to their cars,” he said.

He said he doubled the number of deputies on the campus from four to eight and the crowd dispersed peacefully.

Burr said fights and drinking were reported near the doors leading to the gymnasium and in the parking lot.

Pace said deputies picked up two juveniles, one for underage drinking who was released to his parents, and a girl who was accused of violating a court order. He said the girl was taken to the Warren County Juvenile Detention Center on the order of her probation officer.

Burr, who said she had taken on the chairmanship of the event that last drew 4,000 participants because her mother is a two-time cancer survivor, said she will not be back next year.

“All I can say is they made Relay lose a good volunteer,” she said.

Before the scene turned rowdy, some appeared to have a grand time.

Tyler Caldwell, an 8-year-old who has battled cancer, led his Bovina Elementary team through the hallways of Warren Central — smiling all the way. Tyler was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia when he was 2 years old and has been in remission.

“He’s doing good now,” said his mother, Tiffany Caldwell-Howard, adding he’s attended Relay For Life twice. “He understands what this is all about.”

The evening kicked off with a cancer survivors ceremony in the auditorium.

After, the crowd headed to the gym for entertainment by local bands, children’s activities and food vendors. To remember those who lost the battle with cancer, a luminaria ceremony was held. Festivities were to wrap up at 6 this morning.

“There wasn’t that much space,” Cole said, “but the teams are still selling.”

At the Shape Up Sisters booth, licensed massage therapist Sandra Thomas said she came out to raise funds by selling massages and to remember some family members who have been affected by cancer.

“My mother died of brain cancer,” she said, “and my grandmother was recently diagnosed with kidney cancer.”

Cancer “doesn’t discriminate,” Thomas added. “It can hit you at any time, any age.”

Relay For Life is the American Cancer Society’s largest fundraiser. Events are held throughout the nation.

This year’s goal for the Warren County event is $100,000.

Teams have been raising money the past few months, and items sold at Friday night’s event will be factored in to the total.

‘Co-chairman Kristy Cole was pleased with the turnout.

“I expected the crowd to be less, but I think the turnout is good,” she said. “I don’t think the rain deterred anyone from coming out and supporting us.”

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Contact Manivanh Chanprasith at mchan@vicksburgpost.com