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    • Storm in Topeka with 130 km/h damages trees and cuts power for thousands
    Iowa

    Storm in Topeka with 130 km/h damages trees and cuts power for thousands

    Eira Gwyneth Posted on

    For the fourth time in recent weeks, Topeka residents faced cleanup Thursday morning after a severe thunderstorm overnight that brought strong winds and knocked out power to thousands of homes and businesses.

    More than 5,000 homes and businesses in Topeka were without power as of 7 a.m. Thursday, according to utility Evergy’s online outage map. By 8 a.m., that number had dropped to 4,879, it said.

    The outages forced the temporary closure of several businesses, including several in the area of ​​SW 21st and Gage Boulevard.

    Extensive tree damage occurred in an Oakland neighborhood

    Winds estimated at 80 miles per hour caused major tree damage in the northeastern Topeka neighborhood of Oakland around 10:35 p.m. Wednesday, knocking down several trees 12 to 24 inches in diameter, the National Weather Service’s Topeka office said on its website.

    The storm brought wind gusts of an estimated 65 mph seven miles west/southwest of Topeka around 10:24 p.m. and gusts of an estimated 60 to 70 mph around 10:42 p.m. in Grantville in southwest Jefferson County, the weather service said.

    The website for the weather service’s Topeka office, located near Philip Billard Municipal Airport in Oakland County, did not have weather information for Topeka available after about 11 p.m. Wednesday.

    The reason was a power outage, said Adam Jones, a meteorologist with the weather service. The weather service building was running on generator power, while the observation station does not have a generator, he said.

    Topeka has experienced a series of severe thunderstorms

    Thursday’s power outages came after Topeka residents experienced the following in recent weeks:

    • A storm on June 26 with wind speeds of 140 km/h left more than 11,800 homes and businesses in the region without power.

    • A storm on July 16 brought winds of up to 70 miles per hour, knocking out power to more than 10,000 homes and businesses in the area.

    • And a storm on July 31 with wind speeds of up to 77 mph knocked out power to more than 32,000 homes and businesses in the region.

    Contact Tim Hrenchir at [email protected] or 785-213-5934.

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    Eira Gwyneth
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