News Releases

Customers are encouraged to download the Evergy mobile app during Severe Weather Preparedness Week

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – February 27, 2026 – Severe Weather Preparedness Week is March 2-6. The Evergy service area experiences a wide variety of severe weather during the spring and summer seasons including tornadoes, damaging winds, large hail and flash flooding.

Evergy’s ongoing work to upgrade and modernize the power grid helps reduce outages, which is especially important during severe weather events. Recent Evergy investments include:

• Investing more modern, resilient equipment such as stronger higher-capacity power lines and power poles that can withstand Midwest weather.
• Upgrading to automated switches to help us quickly detect and isolate outages so that a smaller number of customers are affected and power is restored more quickly. 
• Using data to identify equipment that needs repaired or replaced before it fails.
• Monitoring weather conditions and staffing crews accordingly, so we’re ready to respond to outages as quickly as we safely can.
• Trimming tree limbs away from power lines to help reduce outages during severe weather.

Evergy prioritizes investments where they most effectively improve reliability and reduce long-term costs. In 2025, Evergy performed well during storms, with customers being out of power for shorter durations.

"We've been on a great trend for the last several years, and that trend includes having fewer outages that our customers actually experience, whether it's on a stormy day or a blue-sky day. And then we continue to get better and better at our response to outages when they occur," said Ryan Mulvany, Evergy vice president, power delivery. “People don't think about [it] or they don't notice when they drive by our crews every day, but they certainly experience the outcomes of those [investments] when our system withstands weather or withstands wind and their lights stay on.”

Even with greater resiliency, extreme weather can result in power outages. Evergy encourages customers to be prepared and to prioritize safety during severe weather. Here are a few ways to be ready for spring storm season:

• Download Evergy’s mobile app to easily report and track outages. Customers can also report outages at evergy.com/outages, and monitor Evergy’s outage map.
• Check your communications preferences in your Evergy online account. Evergy sends emails and text messages to share information about severe weather and outages with customers.
• If you see downed power lines or another hazardous situation, stay at least 30 feet away. Stay in your car or home if you safely can. DO NOT TOUCH THE LINES. First call 911, then call Evergy at 800-544-4852 in the Evergy Kansas Central service area or 888-544-4852 in the Evergy Metro or Missouri West service areas.

Find more preparation and safety tips on our Preparing for Outages page.

The National Weather Service will conduct a tornado drill at 11 a.m., Wednesday, March 4. Everyone is encouraged to participate in the drill by practicing seeking secure, safe shelter from a tornado.

Audio and video files of Ryan Mulvany are available by request via email.