Festival balloons hit transformer, cause outages in Meriden

MERIDEN, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut Light & Power officials say more than 1,100 customers in Meriden lost power after several helium balloons got away from a vendor at the city's Daffodil Festival and knocked out a transformer.

The outages in the West Main Street area occurred shortly before 8 p.m. Sunday and were fixed by 11 p.m. The balloons got away from a vendor and came in contact with the transformer.

The 34th annual Daffodil Festival featured live music and more than two dozen food vendors, but only a few daffodils at Hubbard Park. Scores of daffodils in the park died off after blooming early during warm winter temperatures.