Kansas Citians go hours without power as dangerously cold temperatures continue
Alexandria Darden, 27, woke up to ice forming on the inside of the windows and sliding glass door of her Kansas City apartment Tuesday morning.
The second-year law student at UMKC threw a stack of old court cases into her fireplace and lit them just to keep warm.
Darden, a resident of Whispering Lake Apartments near Arrowhead Stadium, was one of more than 34,800 Evergy customers primarily in the Kansas City metro area still without power at 1 p.m. Tuesday, more than three hours after the company said they would soon be restoring electricity to customers.
“I’m just, I’m in shock,” Darden said.
Residents across the metro, and beyond, experienced power outages that were part of a planned effort to avoid a larger, uncontrolled blackout amid the arctic temperatures.
“The best thing we can tell people is to try and be patient,” Chuck Caisley, Evergy senior vice president and chief customer officer, said during a news conference Tuesday morning. “We know this is a very difficult circumstance; we know temperatures are extreme. We know that even 30 to 60 or 90 minutes is something that is daunting for people.”
As of 9 a.m., about 170,000 Evergy customers, or 10% of customers, had had their power interrupted or turned off, he said.
At 10:15 a.m. Tuesday, Evergy said on Twitter that the order for controlled power outages was suspended and that power should be back online shortly. Evergy did not respond to requests for comment following the announcement.
A spokesperson said Tuesday morning that any Evergy customers who were without power for more than 90 minutes should call the company’s Kansas City metro line at 888-544-4852 or their central Kansas line at 800-544-4857
More than a dozen people reached out to The Star Tuesday to report that their power had been out for hours, with several saying they tried multiple times to reach someone at Evergy, but were unsuccessful.
Among those who contacted The Star included a resident at a senior independent living apartment in Lenexa worried about their neighbors, a woman who was considering getting a hotel room to warm up in, and metro residents from towns including Olathe, Lee’s Summit and Raytown.
Darden, who spoke with The Star by phone, said a neighbor told her that the building’s power had been out since 1:15 a.m. She called Evergy around 9:45 a.m., and they said they were working on getting a crew out to fix it.
Since she couldn’t attend her online classes, which require an Internet connection, Darden fixed towels to her windows with tacks, then jumped in her car to charge her phone and search for firewood.
After a fruitless trip to Walmart and Lowes looking for firewood, she returned home empty-handed at noon to an apartment that was 43 degrees and still powerless. She then packed up her two dogs and left for a friend’s house, where there was still electricity.
“I feel terrible for all the other families and other people who may not have the resources, or may not be able to leave and are just stuck,” Darden said.
Across town, Jeffrey Brown, 27, was layered up in a sweater and jacket. He positioned his camping chair in a spot of sunlight streaming through his apartment window, attempting to warm up.
His dog, Mayor Jude Fauci Pfizer Belarosa Brown, was bundled up nearby in a blue knit sweater and puffy puppy jacket.
It had been more than three hours without power. Brown, who is an employee at Commerce Bank, said his phone was dying as he tried to work from it, since his computer and Internet was out of commission. He let his boss know he had to miss a number of meetings because of the outage.
Brown is a recent homeowner, living north of 152 highway off Green Hills Road. In the first two hours without power, the temperature in his home dropped from 71 to 60.
“I kind of feel left out to dry I guess, because I have to pay my bill but they don’t necessarily have to provide that service that’s supposed to be there at all times,” he said in a call with The Star Tuesday.
While he said his home is just plain “chilly,” he worries about those who have less ability to keep their home warm.
“I think what’s important is accountability,” Brown said. “They promised us 60 minutes max and so I would just say, I hope our leaders hold them accountable, or at least somebody is held accountable for kind of putting people out for this long because it shouldn’t happen.
Brown told the Star his power returned at about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. At that same time, Evergy was reporting about 18,800 customers still without power.
