photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

An approximately 70 foot Hackberry tree in South Park was uprooted by storms on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. The tree was blocking New Hampshire Street south of 12th Street on Thursday morning.

Story updated at 5:19 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 1:

A few thousand Lawrence residents on Thursday awoke — perhaps not on time — to homes without power.

Lawrence was hit Wednesday night by a storm system that produced 80 mph winds and left more than 100,000 customers in the area without power.

The electric utility Evergy said that Salina, Topeka, Lawrence and Kansas City had the most significant damage and power outages associated with Wednesday night’s storms. By 9 a.m. Thursday, Evergy was reporting more than 2,000 Lawrence customers remained without power. By 5 p.m., the utility’s website was showing about 1,000 Lawrence customers were still without power.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

An approximately 70 foot Hackberry tree in South Park was uprooted by storms on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. The tree was blocking New Hampshire Street south of 12th Street on Thursday morning.

“While power will be on for most customers sooner, we expect that some customers will be out until Friday evening,” Evergy said in a Thursday afternoon press release.

The company said it has called in about 350 additional utility workers from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Illinois, and Iowa to help make needed repairs. That is in addition to 1,100 local employees and contractors that Evergy deployed on Thursday.

While crews are busy in Lawrence, Evergy said Salina and Topeka were the hardest hit areas from a power outage standpoint. More than 50 power poles were knocked down in those areas, and some major transmission lines were damaged by the wind.

In Lawrence, downed trees — which can cause power outages when a limb falls on a power line — were a problem. Those trees also were falling on roads. A spokeswoman for the Lawrence Police Department said Thursday morning that the department had received 34 calls related to roadway obstructions between 10 p.m. and midnight on Wednesday.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office also reported that the Douglas County Fairgrounds — which is hosting the county fair this week — did sustain some damage. Several tents were damaged, and trash was strewn about the grounds, according to information from the department.

Sheriff’s office spokesman George Diepenbrock also told the Journal-World that deputies responded to several calls of damage to property, but said the office had no reports of injuries from the storm. Damage calls included a report of a tree falling on a motor home at Clinton State Park. Diepenbrock said U.S. Highway 40 near East 700 Road west of Lawrence was closed in both directions at about 11 p.m., due to downed trees. The highway reopened after crews from Lecompton Township cleared the road of debris.

photo by: Douglas County Sheriff’s Office

Debris from damaged tents at the Douglas County Fair after an overnight storm on August 1, 2024.

photo by: Douglas County Sheriff’s Office

A booth that was knocked down by high winds at the Douglas County Fair after an overnight storm on August 1, 2024.

The National Weather Service in Topeka reported winds between 70 and 80 mph in Lawrence, said meteorologist Nathan Griesemer. The Lawrence airport reported 0.63 inches of rain having fallen, with reports between 0.5 and 0.75 inches across the rest of the city.

With Wednesday night’s rain, July’s rainfall total reached 5.78 inches, exceeding the annual average total for July by 1.84 inches, Griesemer said. Lawrence has seen 22.93 inches of rain this year, which is 1.08 inches above average, he said.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Multiple tree limbs were down in eastern Lawrence on Aug. 1, including at the historic Robert H Miller Home and Farmstead just east of 19th Street and Haskell Avenue.

Downed tree limbs were near the 19th Street roadway, just east of Haskell Avenue, on Aug. 1, 2024.

Temperatures will cool off through Saturday with highs in the mid- to lower 90s but are expected to rise again to 100-plus degrees on Monday and Tuesday, Griesemer said.

For people with no electricity and thus no air conditioning, the temperatures could be dangerous. Evergy was reminding customers that they could call 2-1-1 to find out information about available cooling stations in their area.

The company also was asking area residents to remember certain safety precautions related to downed power lines. The utility company reminds people to stay at least 30 feet away from downed power lines and to assume that any downed line is still energized. Downed power lines can be reported online at evergy.com/powerlinesafety. People also can report a downed power line by calling 911, if the line is creating an emergency situation.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Electric utility crews were working along south Iowa Street at about 10:30 a.m. on Aug. 1, 2024.

An city of Lawrence employee trims down limbs along Lincoln Street in North Lawrence of Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Rhode Island Street, near 20th Street, was one of several city streets that was only partially passable due to down tree limbs in Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024.