Storms down trees, leave customers without power in Eureka

More than 200 customers were still without power Thursday morning after storms went through the Eureka area on Wednesday.

No injuries were reported, though Greenwood County Emergency Manager Levi Vinson said there was excessive tree damage throughout the town of Eureka.

Westar Energy spokeswoman Gina Penzig said about 250 customers in the area were still without power as of about 9 a.m. on Thursday.

“We estimate that everyone will have their power restored by this evening,” Penzig said in an e-mail.

A storm packing straight-line winds of around 70 mph went through the Eureka area shortly after 4 p.m. on Wednesday, said meteorologist Vanessa Pearce of the National Weather Service.

Vinson said there was no school in Eureka on Thursday because of the storms. He said school officials and contractors were assessing the damage to USD 389 school buildings.

Customers of Rural Water District 2 in Greenwood County were being asked Thursday to limit their water usage, Vinson said.

In Wichita, storms packing high winds downed tree branches and dumped various amounts of rain throughout the city Wednesday afternoon. Pearce said just over 1.5 inches of rain was record Wednesday at Colonel James Jabara Airport in east Wichita.

This story was originally published August 17, 2017 at 10:00 AM with the headline "Storms down trees, leave customers without power in Eureka."