With winds in the area reaching 60 miles per hour and more in some areas, numerous phone calls were placed to area first-responder agencies on Wednesday, December 15.

The strong winds caused several power outages in the KMMO listening area, and power lines were reported down in the northwest part (Ward 4) in Marshall at one point. Also, trees were knocked down and blocked some roadways for a period of time.

A news release says Evergy crews responded to restore power after outages affected customers. As of mid-afternoon Wednesday, outages were limited and scattered, but gusty winds (up to 70 mph) became more intense through midnight Wednesday.

Evergy is reporting there are residents still without power in the Marshall, Higginsville, Lexington and Wellington areas in the KMMO listening area. At one point on Wednesday night, there were nearly 58,000 Missouri residences without power in Missouri, according to www.poweroutage.us. The bulk of them were in the northwest corner of the state.

Evergy officials urge residents to stay away from any downed power lines. They say coming into contact, even indirectly, with a power line can cause extreme injury and could be fatal. High winds and storms could cause tree limbs to blow into power lines or result in downed power lines. If a branch or other debris is in contact with a power line, do not attempt to remove it. They say residents should assume downed power lines are energized and you should keep a distance of at least 10 feet from them. If a downed line is in a heavily trafficked area, report it to 9-1-1. Downed lines can also be reported via Evergy’s outage reporting lines.

Outages may be reported by phone at Evergy Metro, Missouri West at (888) LIGHTKC (888-544-4852).

In addition to all of that, there were several area counties under severe thunderstorm watches and warnings. All of those expired around midnight.