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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 29, 2009 No. 09-021 KANSAS STILL WITHOUT POWER; GENERATOR SUPPORT PROVIDED TO CITYSome power remains out for Kansans in the South Central region of the state following the recent ice and snow storm that began Thursday night and ended Saturday claiming two lives and leaving behind as much as 28 inches of snow and 4 inches of sleet in some areas. Westar Energy is reporting approximately 5,700 customers still without power as of this afternoon (Sunday), and Kansas Electric Cooperatives is reporting a few of their cooperatives still have outages, but they expect many of their customers to be restored today. Kansas Guard Supplies Generator for City Water The Kansas National Guard provided the city of Severy in Greenwood County a generator Sunday to temporarily restore power to the city water supply until regular power is restored in the area. Search and Rescue Missions Conclude Three UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from the 1st Battalion, 108th Aviation, Salina, and one fixed wing Kansas Highway Patrol aircraft concluded aerial surveillance Saturday in Southwest and South Central Kansas. They searched for stranded motorists along the miles of highway that had been closed during white out conditions on Saturday. Also on Saturday, Kansas National Guard Humvees were used to search for stranded motorists in Pratt County and a Humvee team rescued two people near Pratt. Guard Humvees were used in Seward and Reno counties to transport medical personnel to and from hospitals. Six partial building collapses Heavy snow on rooftops caused at least six buildings to partially collapse from the weight Saturday. Reno County officials reported the partial collapse of three buildings, Kingman County officials reported two partially collapsed buildings and Harvey and Harper counties each reported one partial building collapse. No one was injured. Road closure update Kansas roads closed due to the snow and ice were all reopened Sunday, however, K-31 in Bourbon County was closed between 127 and 133 due to flooding. Please call 511 or visit http://511.ksdot.org before traveling. State Emergency Operations Center Deactivates The State Emergency Operations Center in Topeka deactivated today at 12:30 p.m. and went back to normal operations for weekend hours. County emergency managers needing assistance may still call the operations hotline for assistance anytime 24/7 should state assistance be needed.-30- |
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