It's so sad. I could not believe the destruction and death. We even had three tornadoes in PA near me and got 3 and 3/4 inches of rain on top of 5 inches the other day. All totaled we got 14 inches for the month of April. There are floods and downed trees everywhere but nothing like those poor souls suffered.

A plain party balloon filed with helium probably would not damage a plane, but one dangling a hard object like a small chair is definitely a hazard. Think about a small plane traveling at 120 MPH slaming in to a small wood chair. If it hit the windshield, that would not be good. A propeller stike could be disasterous. Slaming into the leading edge of the wing is not good. Whacking the tail stabalizer could tear off a chunk - not good. Sucking a chair into a jet engine is not good. In thte late 1960s, I worked for a company that flew a twin engine Convair. We had moved a product line to Bowling green, KY. This necessitated our technical staff to fly from a northern city to KY on a regular basis. The plane flew at 8000 to 10,000 ft altitude and over 200 MPH. On one trip, something hit the windshield - we think it was a large bird. The windshield got a hole and the right arm of the co-pilot was broken. He also experienced some frost bite on his face. Meanwhile the pilot was dealing with the suddent change of cabin pressure and temperature drop. He immediately slowed the aircraft, requested a lower altitude and an emergency landing at the nearest runway that could handle his plane. The co-pilot stuffed and held a spare flight jacket in the hole in the windshield. Upon landing, the co-pilot was whisked off to a hospital and the passengers were checked for eardrum damage. NO, I don't think you should send hard objects aloft. The release of large weather ballons are controlled and coordinated with air traffic controllers. They also carry radar targets. Ground based weather radar and satellite images have reduced the need for weather balloons.

and.... PRETTY LADY SHERLOCK HOLMES - an odd one from Hortico many yrs ago. He gets PM and BS quite easily as you can see! SOARING SPIRIT CL SPIRIT DANCE STORMY WEATHER CL SUMMER BREEZE - knocked over form the last rains... (it's like 7ft tall...) SUMMER SONG SUNDOWNER TABRIS THE YEOMAN - finally a first bloom after many yrs of being in a bad spot in the yard. Dug it up, re-planted and voila! love it!!

Never seen GUY SAVOY looking so lush. Fired up realy is. :>)