July 18, 7:00 am

Since yesterday afternoon, crews have restored power to more than 6,000 customers, with just 1,700 customers who lost power on Friday still to be restored. We are watching the morning thunderstorms closely, but all remaining outages have been assigned to crews who will continue with repairs when safe to do so. 

Note that there were about 3,000 new outages this morning due to passing storms, but those outages were comparatively minor, and most have already been restored.

July 17, 4:00 pm

Customers without power are down to fewer than 8,000. We understand that the situation is still incredibly frustrating for those without power since Friday, but our crews are safely tackling these remaining repairs efficiently, with help from crews from neighboring states and companies.

At this point, nearly all outages have been assigned and are being actively worked on. Barring any more thunderstorms today, we have tremendous hope to get the lights (and air conditioning) back on for the majority of those remaining customers, with the rest finishing up Tuesday.

At this point, replacing entire poles and their accompanying electrical components is a major focus. Our incredible line workers are still on 16-hour shifts until all of our customers effected by the storm can get back to normal. 

July 17, 9:00 am

In the overnight hours, power was restored to 3,000 more customers, with total customers without power sitting at just under 12,000. At this point, the remainder of outages tend to be multi-phase project that require multiple specialized crews and extensive rebuilding. But with more than 2,000+ crewmembers hard at work today, we expect to make significant progress and will keep you posted.

Note that it is normal at this stage for outage status to flip back and forth from "waiting for assignment" to "assigned" to "work in progress." This can happen when multiple crews are working. When one crew finishes their part of the project, the status may flip back to "waiting for assignment" for the next crew to do their part. Please know that when you see status flip back and forth like that, it is actively being worked. on. 

July 16, 9:00 pm

July 16, 4:00 pm

Despite today's passing showers, our crews are making solid progress. About 25,000 customers remain without power, the result of about 2,300 total outages.

Some positive news is that half of those remaining outages, around 1,600, have crews now assigned to them. For customers, this means you can check the outage map, zoom in on your area, and check whether your area outage has been assigned to a crew. This storm response is the largest mobilization of crews in Evergy's history, with more than 1,200 vehicles in the field. 

Many of the remaining repairs include completely resetting electrical poles (more than 500 were downed in the storm), which is harder to do in mud.

We understand it's incredibly frustrating to not have a restoration time for your home. Having half of those remaining outages assigned to working crews represents some light at the end of the tunnel. 

We will keep you posted here, on Facebook, and on our outage map.

We have received questions about what the outage map notifications mean:

Waiting on assignment vs Work in progress. What does this mean and why would the status go back and forth?

"Waiting on assignment" means that a crew is not currently on the scene. However, keep in mind that a project often has several phases. For instance, if trees have fallen and downed a pole, there would first be an assignment for an assessment crew, so status would read "work in progress."

After that crew finishes assessing the issues and requests personnel and equipment, the project may return to "waiting on assignment" status. Then when the vegetation crew arrives to start clearing the downed tree, the outage may again say "work in progress" and so on. 

Why does it say "work in progress" when I don't see any trucks?

Keep in mind that not all work occurs at the equipment you can see out your window. Often, additional locations and repairs are involved. Please know that just because you do not see a truck on your block does not mean crews are not working on the outage. 

Lastly, status reports from our neighboring utility companies are not on Evergy's system, so updates may be delayed in being reflected on the outage map until those visiting crews return to the staging site to report progress. 

July 16, 10:00 am

As of this morning, about 30,000 customers are still without power. At this time, know that many of the largest outages have been resolved. Teams are now working to repair a large number of individual outages effecting a dozen to a few hundred homes. We continue to work around the clock on repairs. We do expect power to be restored today to effected homes in the Topeka and Lawrence areas.

Over 1,000 personnel from neighboring utilities including OG&E, Liberty Utilities, OPPD Nebraska, MidAmerica Energy, Alliant, NIPSCO, AEP and Ameren are on site assisting with restoration, with more than 215 additional personnel on the way. They are utilizing over 700 vehicles and pieces of equipment.

Evergy and guest crews are being staged at the former Cerner complex and other locations in the metro in Kansas City for equipment, materials, meals and coordination. The primary staging area at the former Cerner complex is the largest staging area mobilized since the 2002 ice storm.

Nearly 500 power poles were damaged or completely destroyed across our service area. Many of the remaining outages will require tree removal and reconstruction to restore power to smaller numbers of customers at a time. Work will take longer as we progress through the restoration. We are also closely watching predicted storm systems that could impact our work or bring more outages.

Here is an update from Evergy Chief Customer Officer Chuck Caisley.

July 15, 8:00 pm

As of this evening, about 42,000 customers are still without power, but 75% of total storm-related outages have been resolved. Crews and support personnel continue to work around the clock, and 24-hour restoration operations will continue until all outages have been repaired. 

In addition to the 1,000+ restoration workers in the field, we have received much-appreciated crews from neighboring utilities and states to assist. More are continuing to arrive.

Keeping in mind that this is a fluid situation, we expect outages in the Topeka and Lawrence areas to be restored by Sunday night. Outages impacting smaller groups of customers in the Kansas City metro area are expected to continue into Monday or Tuesday.

We continue to receive reports of trees in power lines, poles and wires down. Significant tree damage is slowing restoration, as tree crews must clear debris from the lines before our line crews can make repairs. Please keep at least 35 feet away from downed lines or debris on lines.

We will continue to provide updates. We know it's frustrating and upsetting not to know when your power will be restored. Many of our line workers out there right now are without power at their own homes. Please know we are working as quickly and as safely as we can. Thank you for your understanding as operations continue.

July 15, 10:00 am

Chief Customer Office, Chuck Caisley, provided a restoration update for the July 14 storm.

Our crews are working diligently and safely to restore power for all customers. With significant damage to the service area from the storms that moved through last night, crews have reduced the number of outages from 186,000 to under 85,000 as of 10 a.m.

Evergy now has 2,000 employees working on storm-related issues, and according to Caisley, we expect another 1,000 crewmembers from neighboring states to join the effort.

We do expect to resolve a significant number of outages today, but with hundreds of downed lines and thousands of downed trees, we expect restoration efforts to extend into the beginning of next week, says Caisley.

Please know that crews are working 24/7 under full restoration is achieved..

July 15, 7:00 am

As of 7 a.m., we have about 100,000 Evergy customers without power in our service area.

More than 186,000 Evergy customers lost power as Friday’s storm and high winds moved across Kansas and Missouri. We’ve been able to restore power to nearly half of customers who were out. Restoration will take multiple days to complete. Because of the widespread outages, we do not have individual or localized outage restoration estimates.

If you are without power, please consider making plans to spend the day away from your house to keep cool. If you have a friend or family member who is elderly, has small children or otherwise faces a health risk during an outage, please check on them. If you come across a downed power line, please assume that it is energized and stay at least 35 feet away from downed lines.

More than 1,000 people are working on storm restoration, including line and vegetation crews, plus safety and other support teams. We have also reached out to neighboring utilities in Iowa, Colorado, Oklahoma and Missouri for assistance.

 

In addition to crews working to restore power, we will have teams going into affected areas to assess damage. You may see Evergy trucks in your neighborhood to collect information so that line crews are equipped with what they need for local repairs when assigned. 

We truly appreciate your patience and understanding. We’re grateful to our crews who are working diligently and safely to restore power each Evergy customer. We are continuing to reach out to neighboring utilities to bring in any available crews to help speed restoration.

Continuing updates

Follow Evergy on Facebook for images and updates, or check back here.

View the Outage Map for up-to-date outage info.

Safety is our priority

• Please remember to assume any downed power lines are live and do not approach them. Also be watchful for tree limbs that are in contact or could become in contact with power lines. Do not attempt to remove them.
• Customers are encouraged to keep cell phones charged. Have flashlights, batteries, water and non-perishable food on hand, as well as a communication plan for family members to connect if an emergency situation occurs.