More than 30,000 customers remain without power Sunday morning following Friday’s storm that swept across the Kansas City area, causing downed trees and power lines.

The storm late Friday afternoon knocked out power to about 186,000 customers in the region.

“This is the largest restoration effort we’ve had since about 2002,” Evergy’s chief customer officer Chuck Caisley said in a video posted to social media Sunday morning.

Over 500 poles were snapped or uprooted. South KC, Leawood, Prairie Village and Leawood were the hardest hit areas, Caisley said.

“The damage is fairly spread out,” he said, noting that it stretched across several parts of northeast Kansas including Topeka and Lawrence.

By 10 p.m. Saturday, energy had been restored to 75% of their customers, the utility company said. Crews continued to work around the clock.

Power was expected to be restored to residents in Topeka and Lawrence by Sunday night. Outages in parts of the Kansas City metro were going to continue into the week.

More than 2,000 Evergy crew members were working in the field and 1,000 employees from utility companies in Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Nebraska and Oklahoma arrived Saturday to help the effort.

Crews in about 2,000 vehicles are working 16-hour shifts, Caisley said.

The company said restoration was taking longer in areas where there were downed trees in backyards and easements that had to be cleared before repairs could take place.

The summer storm brought strong winds, heavy rains and lightning.

Several cities in the metro are offering debris drop off on Sunday. Wyandotte County’s Recyclying and Yard Waste Center is open to residents from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at 3214 Park Drive. Leawood residents can bring storm debris from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to a maintenance facility at 2008 W. 104th Street from July 16-23. Overland Park will have a site open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 11921 Hardy on July 16-17 and July 22-23. Proof of residency is required.

Kansas City residents will be allowed to set out up to 10 bags of trash from July 17-21 on their regular pickup day. Debris can be dropped off at 11660 N. Main Street, 1815 N. Chouteau Trafficway or 10301 Raytown Road. Residents can also schedule curbside leaf and brush collection that will start July 24. To schedule the appointment, call 311 or use the myKCMO app.

This story was originally published July 16, 2023 at 8:24 AM.