UPDATE: Evergy reports about 25k without power in Kansas City metro
This story will continue to be updated as more reports from Evergy are released.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Evergy continues to provide updates about its power restoration efforts in parts of Kansas City after Saturday’s severe overnight storms.
According to Evergy, storms began moving across its service areas around 7 p.m. However, the most severe weather and damage took place several hours later in the Kansas City metro, specifically in areas south of Interstate 70.
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Evergy said cities like Shawnee, Kansas City, Lee’s Summit and Blue Springs saw some of the most severe weather, which resulted in about 140,000 customers losing power.
The cause of the outages can be traced back to a potential downburst, which can have tornado-strength winds, with straight-line winds reported to be about 70 mph near the Interstate 70 corridor. Evergy said these lasted approximately 10 minutes.
As of 6 a.m. on Monday, Evergy updated its outage map, which shows a little over 25,000 customers still without power
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Crews began power restoration efforts overnight. Tree and line crews have focused primarily on restoring main power lines to different neighborhoods in the metro.
While these repairs are under way, damage assessment teams have been canvassing areas to assign vegetation crews to clean-up locations and to make sure line crews arrive with the right equipment.
Because of the extensive damage to certain parts of the Kansas City metro, Evergy said restoration efforts may take a few days in specific areas.
Most of the outages were caused by the storm’s strong winds. Many poles and power lines need to be replaced and repaired, so Evergy asks that people stay at least 35 feet away from downed power lines and tree limbs that have landed on power lines.
Evergy also asks that you do not remove tree limbs or brush near or on these lines because they may still be energized.
On Sunday evening, Evergy reported that more than 70% of customers have been restored. They released a statement:
“Over the course of the storms, more than 140,000 customers lost power. As of 4 p.m. Sunday, more than 70% of customers have been restored, and about 40,000 customers remain without power. A majority of the outages from this storm are due to the significant wind. Many poles need to be repaired or replaced and down lines need to be safely replaced.
Line and vegetation crews totaling nearly 900 workers from neighboring utilities and additional local and regional contractors will arrive Sunday evening and Monday morning to begin assisting with power restoration in the Kansas City metro area. Utility crews are coming from Liberty Utilities, in Joplin, Mo., and Alliant in Iowa and Wisconsin.
Because of the severity of damage, restoration work in some areas will take multiple days. Evergy expects to have all customers in Wichita and Shawnee restored by Monday night. In the KC metro area, restoration will likely extend to Wednesday night. Evergy customers in other communities are expected to be restored by Sunday night.
We appreciate customers’ patience as we work to restore power as quickly as safely possible.”
View the latest Weather Alerts in the Kansas City region on FOX4
For emergencies, call 911. For more information about the outages, download the Evergy mobile app or visit the outage map online. You can also contact the call centers — Kansas Central: (800) 544-4857; Kansas Metro, Missouri Metro, and Missouri West: (888) 855-4852.
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