I was overjoyed when my honey brought home these flowers and this balloon for our early Valentine's Day celebration. It wasn't until today that I learned about the serious risk these balloons can pose.

Did you know that the metallic coating in Mylar balloons can cause electrical lines to short and create power outages? I had no idea until I saw a posting on the City of Rocky Mount Facebook page and set out to do a little more research.

It turns out outages across the country have been caused by wayward Mylar balloons getting caught in lines. The metallic coating conducts electricity and can short the wires, which can cause lines to fall — a serious risk to public safety.

Turns out California and other states even have laws in place to prohibit the sale of metallic balloons without being weighted down as well as attaching metallic ribbon to helium-filled balloons.

Here are some tips to avoid causing an outage with your celebratory balloons:

• Never release a metallic balloon outdoors
• Never use metallic ribbon with metallic balloons
• Always deflate metallic balloons and dispose of them properly when no longer in use
• Never release large latex balloons or large bunches of latex balloons because they can strike power lines when released or when they return to the ground.

City of Rocky Mount advises anyone who sees a mylar ballon or other item caught on a power line NOT to attempt to free the item, but immediately call 467-4800 for assistance.

One more safety tip, if a power line falls on your vehicle, do not attempt to escape, but call 911 and wait for emergency crews to arrive and get you to safety.

Did you know this about mylar balloons?