Reno County sees significant damage after Sunday’s storm

HUTCHINSON, Kan. (KSNW) – Reno County declared a local disaster following a severe storm that moved through on Sunday.

The storm produced an 86 mph wind gust at the Hutchinson Airport. The county says the most impacted areas were Haven and Hutchinson.

The City of Hutchinson says there is significant damage throughout the city. The city manager, public works director, forestry superintendent, and street superintendent formed an evaluation team to assess the extent of the damage and determine the next steps. The following priorities were listed:

• Restoring City Functionality: Ensuring essential services are up and running.
• Traffic Signals: Repairing and restoring power to traffic signals across the city. Currently, 18 traffic signals are without power, with four being powered by generators. If a traffic signal is off, please treat it as a four-way stop.
• Lift Stations: Monitoring lift stations to maintain sewage management. A crew has been monitoring 20 lift stations without power, running generators as needed.
• Clearing Streets: Removing debris to ensure safe and passable roads. City crews have been working overnight to clear streets, pushing limbs into yards. The Forestry Division is assisting when downed limbs are touching private property such as cars or mailboxes.

The Hutchinson Police Department reported on Sunday night that debris was blocking multiple roadways throughout the city. Police asked drivers to avoid driving around barricades because of the debris and downed power lines.

Evergy reported that Reno County had 10,454 outages as of 8 a.m. Monday. By 9:45 a.m., the number was down to 9,350. At 2:30 p.m., the number dropped to 3,400. To see the latest power outages, click here.

The City sent these instructions for residents:

• Residents are responsible for removing limbs from their properties.
• City crews worked overnight to clear streets, pushing limbs into yards. The Forestry Division is assisting when downed limbs are touching private property such as cars or mailboxes.
• Tree limbs drop off sites will be announced later today, if necessary.

The Reno County Landfill is taking brush from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Saturday, according to Reno County . You can expect longer wait times than normal. The gate closes at 5 p.m., so make sure to give yourself plenty of time.

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