Party balloon hits a line, cuts power

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

A LARGE party balloon caused a power outage affecting about 700 customers yesterday afternoon.

At 2.35pm, the power went out in the Makaraka and Te Hapara areas.

Eastland Network general manager Brent Stewart said this was due to a large metal-coloured party balloon making contact with 11kV conductors by Showgrounds Park.

Eastland Network staff carried out safety checks before restoring power.

Eighty affected customers had their electricity back on within 20 minutes, and power was back on for everyone within half an hour.