Dust Devil May Have Caused Jumping Balloon To Go Airborne

The jumping balloon that went airborne with three children inside and came crashing down across a street and three houses over was owned by one of the child’s parents.

A relative told ABC-7 there were two 6-year-olds and a 9-year-old inside the jumping balloon.

One of the 6-year-olds is a boy identified by his relative as Jacob.

Jacob’s cousin Johnny Martin told us all three were seriously hurt after crash landing in a neighbors backyard. He said, ” all three of them had to have surgery.”

The winds that tossed the bounce house into the air were described by witnesses as strong and dusty. They say it came out of nowhere.

Martin, said “for the dust to hit my face when I was inside my home the winds must have been strong.”

ABC-7 chief meteorologist “Doppler” Dave Speelman says those are all chracteristics of a “dust devil”, or a tornado-like whirlwind with speeds of up to 75 miles per hour.