Dozens of KCK residents wait on electrical repairs before BPU can restore their power

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — KSHB 41 reporter Rachel Henderson covers neighborhoods in Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties. Share your story idea with Rachel.

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Nearly a month after a storm hit Kansas City, Kansas, 72 residences remain without power as they wait on electricians to make repairs before BPU can fully restore the grid.

Lisa Holmes captured video of her neighbor's house the morning after the Aug. 18 storm.

Lisa Holmes

The home near 55th and Haskell still had no power Monday.

"It felt like our house was caving in because it was very very, it was just very, very powerful, and I was like, 'What is going on?'" Holmes said.

Holmes said she and her husband initially thought the storm was a tornado.

Her neighbor's granddaughter reported trees blocking the door and branches coming through the home. Water poured into the house.

Holmes said her home required a full electrical meter replacement after the storm pulled the meter away from the house. The replacement work cost $1,100.

"BPU said, 'Yeah, we can't touch it until that gets done,'" Holmes said.

Holmes warned residents to be cautious of contractors who have been swarming the neighborhood offering roof repairs.

"I thought it was like you're trying to capitalize off somebody's grief or whatever. Don't do it," Holmes said.

KSHB 41 News Wyandotte County reporter Rachel Henderson met BPU Director of Communications Amber Oetting at the still-damaged home Monday to get answers about why it's taken so long to restore power.

Rachel Henderson/KSHB 41

"We had crews that came out immediately, some of our supervisors. I did a drive-through of the area that was impacted, and at that point, we knew during that initial assessment that this was a bad one," Oetting said.

Oetting said the delay is not a staffing issue.

BPU had 83 people helping with storm response, along with nearly 200 mutual aid partners.

"This was some pretty extensive damage, and from the beginning, it was building the system back up from literally the ground up. And that meant restoring poles, running miles of wire, just getting the grid back in place so we could have services available, and it takes time, it takes time to do it safely, and it takes time to get through that debris," Oetting said.

Some of the remaining outages involve customer-owned repairs to the mast, riser and weatherhead where the service line connects to the home.

Oetting said some homes have damage beyond the meter or mast, and some are unoccupied.

Oetting acknowledged those repairs can be a significant financial burden and said the Unified Government of Wyandotte County has stepped in to help residents cover those costs.

Some community members have offered these services for free in the past month.

When asked about preventative measures, Oetting said BPU has a pole replacement and tree-trimming program, but no program could have fully prepared residents or the BPU for the scale of this event.

"What we don't have a program in place for — other than mutual aid — is when Mother Nature kind of takes out the whole system. And that's when we've got to go back to the basics and do restoration from the bottom up," Oetting said.

Lisa Holmes

She also said the poles, old or new, were no match for the powerful storm.

“I would say if it were all new poles running down the side of the street, they would not have survived that either way. It would have been replacing infrastructure. And we do have that list where we proactively replace poles based on age. We take calls from customers when they see a pole needs repair,” Oetting said.

BPU reported zero injuries related to the storm.

"When we say it will take time, the number one reason is safety, and that's to assess for the community, as well as our customers and then our line crews out there," Oetting said.

BPU has spent approximately $5.5 million in damage and restoration costs.

Certain eligible restoration costs qualify for FEMA reimbursement if a disaster declaration and FEMA requirements are met.

BPU tracks the full cost of the event, which moves through the local and state emergency management process before FEMA determines eligible costs and the applicable federal cost share.

Oetting said rate payers should not be impacted or paying more as a result.

Crews are currently on their third round of door-to-door notices.

Amber Oetting

BPU will leave three notices before sending a letter to the account holder explaining next steps.

BPU also maintains daily communication with the Unified Government and shares a list of addresses still without power.

Residents who still need help with repairs and debris removal are encouraged to call 3-1-1.

Wyandotte County residents can also visit one of two SBA Disaster Loan Outreach Centers for in-person loan assistance through Sept. 30.

The centers are McNewton's Community Outreach Center, 2100 N. 13th St., in KCK. The center is open Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The center will close their outreach center at 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18.

The Quindaro Community Center 2726 Brown Ave., in KCK will remain open until Sept. 30, Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Saturday hours are available from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 19 at the Quindaro Center.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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