During the early morning of June 17, a severe storm moved through the Wichita, Kansas, region with winds in excess of 100 mph, resulting in more than 45,000 customers without power. Communities with the most damage included Wichita, Hutchinson, Newton and Derby, Kansas.
Later that day, rounds of evening storms hit Evergy's service area and included tornado and flood warnings. The strong storms resulted in trees, wire and poles down throughout the area.
Evergy teams and contract crews immediately responded to the storms. About 85% of those customers were restored as of June 18 with 15,000 still without power.
Damage assessment crews encountered trees, wire and poles down in the hardest-hit areas, and they worked as efficiently and safely as possible to restore power to affected customers. They drove through areas of storm damage and took note of what equipment was needed when tree and line crews were assigned to make repairs and restore power.
In addition, more than 150 lineworkers and vegetation management workers from Missouri, Colorado, Minnesota, Nebraska and Oklahoma traveled to the Wichita area to assist with the restoration effort. On June 18, a workforce of more than 1,000 line and vegetation personnel and support teams were working in the Wichita area.
Crews will continue working safely until power is restored to all customers. To view the outage map, click here.
