Severe storms rip through metro area Saturday causing widespread wind damage, power outages

A severe thunderstorm that swept through the metro area just after 9:30 p.m. Saturday caused widespread wind damage and power outages.

The storms reportedly packed winds between 70-75 miles per hour with lightning, heavy rain and scattered hail.

Thousands of customers on both sides of the state line were without power just before 10 p.m.

According to an outage map provided by Kansas City Power and Light, more than 30,000 customers were without service.

Kansas City Board of Public Utilities also reported nearly 10,000 customers were without power in Kansas City, Kan.

There were several reports of downed gas and power lines, power poles and trees throughout the metro.

Many homes were also damaged during the storms.

Flash flooding was also reported in Westport.

Earlier Saturday, the National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm watch until 2 a.m. Sunday for the metro area.

The storms were expected to contain damaging hail, high wind, frequent lightning and torrential rain.

A couple of tornadoes were also possible, according to the National Weather Service.

The severe weather postponed or canceled several high-profile events in Kansas City Saturday night, including Boulevardia in the West Bottoms, Funk Fest at Providence Medical Center Amphitheater in Bonner Springs and the Willie Nelson concert at Starlight Theatre.

This story was originally published June 17, 2017 at 7:01 PM with the headline "Severe storms rip through metro area Saturday causing widespread wind damage, power outages."