Storm wreaks icy havoc in many Kansas towns

Kansans began to dig out from ice, felled trees and cold homes on Monday after a monster ice storm lingered over much of the central and western parts of the state.

The Associated Press reported several thousand people in the Dodge City area were still without power on Monday.

The Victory Electric Cooperative out of Dodge City reported at least 5,000 homes were without power as of Monday afternoon, and it could take several days to restore power to all customers.

Midwest Energy reported on Facebook on Monday evening that it was working through the largest ice storm to hit Kansas in a decade and trying to restore power to more than 8,700 customers in an area that stretched from Lyons to the Colorado state line.

Melting ice and increased wind are causing additional outages. Falling tree limbs have taken down hundreds of service lines to individual homes and businesses.

The Kansas National Guard has Stranded Motorist Assistance and Recovery Teams patrolling icy roads and giving assistance to stranded motorists. The American Red Cross and the Salvation Army jointly opened a shelter at Dodge City Community College in the Student Activity Building.

“Our restoration priorities are transmission lines first, distribution feeder lines second, and service lines to individual homes or businesses last,” Midwest Energy’s Facebook post said. “This ensures we bring the largest number of customers back on with each line as we put circuits back in service.

Victory serves customers in Ford and Gray counties and parts of seven other counties.

Other utilities and electric cooperatives reported scattered outages Monday in western and south-central and central Kansas.

This story was originally published January 16, 2017 at 7:55 PM with the headline "Storm wreaks icy havoc in many Kansas towns."