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11:45 a.m. | 8-19-2011

Storms moved through northeast Kansas late Thursday/early Friday knocking out power to about 38,500 customers in northeast Kansas. Westar Energy crews went to work right away and have reduced that number to 14,000 by 11:45 a.m. Friday. The areas hit the hardest were Topeka, Lawrence, Leavenworth and Shawnee. We have called in contractors and pulled resources from all other areas of our company to assist with getting power restored.

These storms had wind gusts up to 70 mph and left a substantial amount of damage in their path. A lot of the restoration work we are facing is at the neighborhood level or even serving individual homes and businesses. In the Topeka area, we estimate it may be Sunday before power is restored to all customers. In Lawrence and Shawnee, it may be Saturday before restoration is complete. We expect to have power restored to all customers in Leavenworth late tonight. We understand customers would like more precise
restoration estimates, but they are not available at this time.

The best way to report an outage is to call 1-800-LIGHT-KS or through our web site. This number can accept up to 30,000 calls per hour.

Safety is our primary concern. If you see a downed power line, assume it is energized. Do not approach it. Do not attempt to remove limbs or debris from power lines. Report either situation to 1-800-LIGHT-KS. With temperatures forecast near the century mark, please keep an eye out for friends and neighbors if their power is out.

With storm damage, it is common to see the meter can pulled away from structures. It is the home or business owner’s responsibility to have this repaired. The work must be completed before we can safely restore power.
As work progresses, we will continue to provide updates

For the latest updates, visit our outage page. http://www.westarenergy.com/outage