Power outage affects 8,000 customers, disrupts traffic signals in southeast Kansas City

Commuters heading home in southeast Kansas City during the afternoon rush hour Thursday hit extra traffic because of a power outage that put 8,000 customers in the dark and shut down several traffic signals.

The cause of the outage, which hit right about 5 p.m., was still unknown as crews with KCP&L worked to restore power, spokeswoman Katie McDonald said.

As of 5:45 p.m., the number of customers still out was reduced to fewer than 6,000, she said.

This story was originally published January 15, 2015 at 5:54 PM with the headline "Power outage affects 8,000 customers, disrupts traffic signals in southeast Kansas City."