Power restoration efforts continue in KCK; Kansas National Guard to help with debris cleanup Wednesday

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Work continues to remove storm debris and restore power in Kansas City, Kansas, and more help is on the way.

City officials announced Tuesday that members of the Kansas National Guard will help with storm debris removal on Wednesday.

Crews have picked up and hauled away more than 4,500 cubic yards of storm debris, which city officials say would fill a football field, including both end zones.

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The Kansas City Board of Public Utilities' power outage map showed 117 customers without power at 7:17 p.m., with most north of State Avenue.

Crews hope to have power restored on Wednesday.

KSHB 41 Wyandotte County reporter Rachel Henderson spoke with 84-year-old William Crusoe Monday as he waited in his KCK house for his power to be restored.

"I'm 84 years old,” Crusoe told Henderson. “I ain't never been through nothing like this.”

Crusoe has a pacemaker and lives with a caretaker on doctor's orders.

He has been in his home for 25 years and says his only income is a $1,000 monthly Social Security check.

Crusoe has been sleeping in a small shed in his backyard.

"I thought the world was coming to an end,” Crusoe said. “It started raining in here, in there. The kitchen and the bathroom, that's the only place it wasn't raining in.”

He says his ask is simple.

"I need help. I need help bad. I don't have no insurance, no nothing. I think I have about $25 in my pocket now," Crusoe said. "Give me some help. Fix my house so I can lay back down, that's all.”

Dozens of organizations are helping provide food and personal care items damaged or destroyed in the storm.

The American Red Cross shelter at the Earl Watson Community Center, 1120 Central Ave., remains open as an overnight shelter and resource hub. More than a dozen people used the shelter Monday night.

Storm victims who need help finding food, supplies, cleanup help, medical care, transportation, home repairs or other services have several options:

• McNewton’s Community Outreach Center, 2100 N. 13th St.
  
  • Food, groceries and supplies are available 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Volunteer hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 
• Justice for Wyandotte
  
  • Call 913-228-2625 for help. There is no charge for the help.
• Operation BBQ Relief
  
  • The organization will return to the parking lot of the Quindaro Community Center, 2726 Brown Ave., from noon Wednesday until the food is gone.

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