Update 10:20 a.m.: Evergy says about 4,500 customers are without power as of 10 a.m. Evergy says those still without power are from communities that saw the most damage. According to Evergy, most of the customers in the Topeka and Salina areas will have power restored today with some outages that could last until Saturday afternoon.
KANSAS (KSNT) - Over 110,000 Kansans lost power after a severe thunderstorm on Wednesday night. Now, Evergy is recommending customers visit cooling centers while they wait for power to be restored.
On Friday, August 2 Evergy posted a storm update saying they had roughly 7,500 customers still without power. As of Friday morning, Evergy is reporting 4,577 without power and 384 active outages on its outage map.
The company said with high heat and extended restoration times customers should seek air-conditioned cooling centers for their safety.
27 News spoke to a Shawnee County Parks and Rec spokesman who said the county doesn't open cooling centers unless the heat index is over 105 degrees.
As a result of the storm, neighboring states of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Illinois and Iowa provided 350 additional linemen who were set to arrive on Thursday afternoon. According to Evergy, over 50 power poles were downed and some transmission lines that help deliver power long distances were impacted.
"Most Evergy customers in the Salina and Topeka areas will have power restored today and Friday, but some outages are expected to stretch into Saturday afternoon," the company said in the update.
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