Update 4:09 p.m.: Evergy announced in a news release its crews have restored power for more than 85% of customers that were impacted by Wednesday night's severe storm.
According to Evergy, 37,000 customers lost power due to the storm. As of 3:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon, fewer than 5,000 customers are still without power.
Newton areas. In Topeka, winds exceeding 80 mph toppled trees and poles, and caused extensive damage to the power grid. Restoration for some customers is expected to take until Friday evening. In the town of Sedgwick, Evergy crews are working to replace nearly two dozen poles. Restoration work there will take until Friday. Customers in other areas are expected to be restored by tonight.
Statement excerpt from Evergy
Update 7:30 a.m.: The total number of customers impacted by power outages in the Topeka area is now 4,861.
TOPEKA (KSNT) - Last night a peak of 28,000 Evergy customers went without power after severe storms rolled through the area.
According to Evergy, Topeka Wichita, Newton and Leavenworth customers were heavily impacted. Damage reports included broken poles, downed wires and trees in power lines.
As of 8 a.m., Evergy said 65% of the customers without power had been restored. Some early morning commuters experienced down street lights.
Evergy says restoration times are currently unknown due to the storm conditions from last night. Evergy said damage assessment teams are in the field and are working to provide estimates for getting power restored.
"Evergy prioritizes outages to first restore service to public safety facilities and then based on restoring power to the most customers, which means repairing main lines and then focusing work based on the number of customers affected by individual outages," Evergy said in a press release.
Evergy warned residents to stay 30 feet away from downed powerlines and always assume they're powered up. You can report downed lines by clicking here, or by calling 911 in an emergency.
More information will be provided as it becomes available.
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