News Releases

All customers are now expected to be restored by Tuesday night

Kansas City, MO – May 28, 2024 – As of Tuesday morning, Evergy has restored power to 97% of customers impacted by the weekend’s severe storm. Evergy expects to have power restored to nearly all customers tonight. Wichita restoration was completed Monday night, then additional weather moved into Wichita early this morning causing new outages. As of 11 a.m. there are about 3,500 customers without power; 1,800 of those are from Saturday night/Sunday morning’s storm.

Mutual assistance crews that arrived in Kansas City on Sunday and Monday will continue to assist with restoration today. In addition to Evergy crews, there are nearly 900 workers from Joplin-based Liberty Utilities and Alliant Energy, which serves Iowa and Wisconsin, as well as additional local and regional contractors working in the field.

The storm moved through the Evergy service area Saturday night, bringing straight line winds of 70 mph to the Kansas City metro area, including a downburst south of the I-70 corridor that lasted almost 10 minutes. Over the course of the storm, more than 140,000 customers lost power Evergy restored power to more than 100,000 customers in less than 24 hours.

Because of the severity of damage, restoration work in some areas has taken longer. A majority of the outages from this storm were due to the significant wind. Many poles needed to be repaired or replaced and down lines needed to be safely replaced. Tree damage and debris are still being cleared from many worksites to allow power crews to restore service.

Customers should prioritize safety as restoration continues.

• Assume that any downed line is energized. Downed lines can be reported online at https://www.evergy.com/community/safety/electrical-safety/around-power-lines. Stay at least 35 feet away from downed power lines or limbs on lines. Do not try to remove tree limbs or brush from downed lines or anywhere near power lines. If you have an emergency, please call 911.
• Avoid opening refrigerators and freezers frequently to keep food cold longer. Have non-perishable snacks accessible.
• Download the Evergy mobile app: You can report an outage and keep up with outage updates by downloading the Evergy mobile app: https://www.evergy.com/about-evergy/mobile-app or visit the outage map online: https://outagemap.evergy.com/
• Kansas residents served by Evergy Kansas Central can call 800-LIGHT-KS (800-544-4857). Customers in the Kansas City metro area and Missouri can call 888-LIGHT-KC (888-544-4852)