For the third time in five weeks, Topekans found themselves cleaning up Thursday morning in the wake of a severe thunderstorm bringing high winds that cut electrical power to thousands of local homes and businesses.
This storm, however, cut power to more to 32,000 Topeka-area homes and businesses, more than the previous two storms had combined.
Those Topekans were among 117,000 customers of the electrical utility Evergy who lost power late Wednesday in north-central and northeast Kansas, Evergy said on an online power outage website it maintains.
What Topeka streets remained blocked off on Thursday?
Downed tree limbs were all over the place Thursday morning in Topeka. Parts of two thoroughfares were blocked off due to storm damage, said Topeka police Sgt. Steven J. Block.
S.W. Wanamaker Road was closed in both directions between S.W. 27th and 29th streets and S.W. Topeka Boulevard was closed in both directions between S.W. 37th Street and Interstate 470, he said.
In the latter area, power poles could be seen to have been snapped in half.
How many lost electrical power in Topeka?
Wednesday’s outages came after a June 26 storm characterized by 86 mph winds left more than 11,800 homes and businesses without power in the Topeka area and a July 16 storm bringing winds as high as 70 mph cut power to more than 10,000 homes and businesses in that area.
Wednesday evening’s storm left more than 32,000 homes and businesses were without electrical power as of 10:45 p.m. Wednesday in the Topeka area, Evergy reported on its outage map.
“This storm has produced widespread tree damage and power line damage in the cities of Lawrence and Topeka and surrounding areas,” said the website of the National Weather Service’s Topeka office.
Evergy crews worked throughout the night to restore power. They were continuing to do so at 6 p.m. Thursday, when Evergy said on its power outage map website that power had been restored to about 80% of those who had lost it.
By that time, the number of homes and businesses without power had been reduced to 3,830 in the Salina area, 4,073 in the Topeka area and 2,277 in the Greater Kansas City area.
How high did wind speeds get?
The weather service said wind speeds in the Topeka area had been reported to have reached as high as 77 mph one mile east/southeast of the unincorporated community of Pauline, which is just south of the capital city in southern Shawnee County.
The weather service reported it had recorded 1.19 inches of rainfall between 9 p.m. Wednesday and 3 a.m. Thursday at its office in northeast Topeka near Philip Billard Municipal Airport.
Shawnee County’s solid waste department urged customers on its Facebook page Thursday morning to remember that tree branches being put out for collection must first be cut into four-foot lengths and tied into a bundle.
Bundles cannot be larger than 18 inches in diameter, with a many as 15 bundles being allowed, it said.
Contact Tim Hrenchir at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.