Power still out for 28,000 in Kansas, Missouri after storm and winds slam Evergy grid
Nearly 28,000 people in Kansas and Missouri are still without power following destructive storms and high winds that heavily damaged Evergy’s utility grid and brought a wave of outages affecting 260,000 customers.
Utility crews worked through the night to assess the damage and begin repairs on downed power lines. So far about 90% of service has been restored, Chuck Caisley, Evergy’s chief customer officer, said. The company intends to have at least 95% restoration by the end of Friday, though some may experience lengthier waits that stretch into the weekend.
“We are doing absolutely everything we can, throwing everything we have at it, and asking for assistance from our brother and sister utilities and neighboring states,” Caisley said during a press briefing held via Zoom on Thursday afternoon. “We are going to work around the clock until we get these outages restored.”
Power poles toppled across the Midwest on Wednesday as a storm moved from the west of Kansas and across Missouri. Wind turbines maintained by Evergy in Kansas registered wind speeds of 100 mph.
The Kansas City metro was one of the hardest-hit outage areas during the storm. As of late Thursday afternoon, roughly 6,200 people remained without power in Wyandotte, Johnson, Jackson, Clay and Platte counties. Much of Wyandotte County is served by the Kansas City, Kansas Board of Public Utilities, which reported 2,300 customers without power early Thursday morning.
The damage tolled on the utility network by the storm has been described by company officials as one of the most challenging events dealt with during its history. Damage estimates have yet to be calculated, but Caisley said the tally would likely rise into the millions of dollars.
The Star’s Matti Gellman contributed to this report.
This story was originally published December 16, 2021 at 6:10 PM.
