SCRANTON — The Lackawanna County Scrantastic Spectacular takes place Monday, July 3, starting at 4:00 p.m. in Courthouse Square in Downtown Scranton with…
but the big question now will they fly? we ll make a game-day decision regarding the heights of the balloons. reporter: the forecast calls for strong winds. and the rules in place say the 16 large character balloons can t fly if sustained winds exceed 23 miles per hour and the gusts are stronger than 34 miles per hour. back in 1997, the iconic cat in the hat balloon got caught up in strong winds and hit a lamp post. four people before injured, including a woman who was in a coma for nearly a month. that incident launching these restrictions. tomorrow, the nypd will be measuring the winds along the parade route, making the call right before the parade starts. at the end of the day, public safety is paramount and we want everybody to enjoy the event. reporter: the balloons can go up as high as 55 feet, as low as ten feet. or if the winds are too tough, grounded altogether. all right, gio joins us now live from the parade route. we can see the balloons right there behind you.
including astronauts new become a green eggs and ham and smokey the bear. gusts up to 40, city regulations prohibit giant balloons if sustained winds reach 23. gusts exceed 34. we are right in that window. the rules changed after an incident back in 1997 when strong winds pushed a giant cat in the hat balloon into a lamp post showering degree in the crowd below and knocking out young woman and conscious. this year the nypd as officers assigned to every balloon and several sergeants with wind meters will be monitoring the floats along the parade routes. some of those thoughts more than 50 feet tall with up to 90 handlers each and their flight status will be a game time or parade time decision. we have to move a large character balloon from the route, we still have a bunch of performers that are going to be out there as well. we also have other small to the balloons as well. we have to move something off the route, that may be the situation. the bit will still go on.