Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Runaway Blimp Causes Power Outages in Schuylkill and Columbia Counties

The military blimp that made National News Wednesday is said to have caused the power outages in Schuylkill County as it descended over the area.


In a statement from PPL, "The trailing tether line of the blimp, which broke free from the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, reportedly caused damage to multiple electrical system facilities in Columbia and Schuylkill counties".

Just before 2:00pm, the time of the outages, PPL reported over 15,000 homes were without power.

The area were the electric line was snapped was reportedly near Milemarker 131 along Interstate 81.

As of 5:30pm, PPL still reported 1,817 homes without power.

The Aberdeen Blimp eventually landed and deflated in the Muncy area, in Montour County.  Before landing, the lines dragging from the blimp reportedly knocked out power to the Bloomsburg area and other parts of Columbia County.

Related story from the Times News
http://www.tnonline.com/2015/oct/28/runaway-blimp-wipes-out-power-schuylkill-county