Just last week the city of New Orleans got a shock when a Mylar balloon interrupted power to a water treatment plant causing a boil water advisory to be issued that effected nearly 370,000 residents.
Now, city officials look into what can be done to stop this from happening again.
As some found it a little bizarre that one balloon could cause such chaos, the foil balloons are actually banned in several states because of similar issues.
Councilman JP Morrell spoke with Tommy Tucker regarding the issue. He says, first, these aren’t just any balloons.
“Mylar balloons are made of foil and when they come in contact with the powerlines, they are like bombs and they blow up.”
A ban would not take effect as soon as the council would have a lot to figure out like giving current vendors a timeframe to sell off their current Mylar balloon stock. Enforcement poses another issue.
“A person could go to a neighboring parish, buy a Mylar balloon, and still release it.”
Morrell says he actually was more concerned with the response of the Sewerage and Water Board.
He says the department could have been more forthcoming about an incident at the plant that further exacerbated the situation.
“What I did not appreciate was Sewerage and Water Board going silent for twenty-four hours instead of coming out and saying there was a catastrophic incident but all mechanisms are in place.”
