‘Disheartening’: Severe storms destroy KCK office, close Wyandotte County Lake Park

Severe storms tore through Kansas City, Kansas, late Sunday night and early Monday, blazing a destructive trail that left an office building on Central Avenue in shambles and closed Wyandotte County Lake Park.

Residents awoke Monday to downed trees, several of which crashed into cars, knocked down fences or blocked roadways around the county. One area particularly affected was near 13th Street and Central Avenue, including The Stables where several area nonprofits have shared office space.

Edgar Galicia, of the Central Area Betterment Association, which owns the building, received a call early Monday from the owners of a nearby bakery saying parts of the roof were scattered across the sidewalk. He drove there to find the southern end of the building entirely exposed to the elements.

“It’s disheartening,” Galicia told The Star on Monday during a tour of the wrecked building, which houses six area nonprofit organizations.

“We count our blessings because nobody was here,” Galicia added, saying some of the offices stay open 24 hours.

The sidewalk out front of The Stables was blocked off Monday as the building was tagged as unfit for occupancy by the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and KCK. Inside, those with office space were moving files, boxes and other office property as water dripped down from large openings in the roof.

Galicia said his insurance company had yet to provide him a full damage report. An online fundraiser was launched to offer financial assistance.

Meanwhile, the Unified Government announced Wyandotte County Lake Park had closed until further notice as destructive winds struck boat docks and knocked down power lines at a playground.

Krystal McFeders, a spokeswoman for the city and county government, said an emergency management team had been deployed to assess the damage.

Roughly 3,500 customers were without power across nearly 200 reported outages in Wyandotte County as of Monday afternoon, according to a Board of Public Utilities outage map.

Nick Moreno, a BPU spokesman, said downed trees and tree limbs were the biggest issue crews were dealing with Monday and the public utility was relying on outside assistance through its mutual aid agreements.

Three Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools — Sumner Academy, Douglass Elementary School and the Earl Watson Early Childhood Center — were among the buildings that were without power at some point Monday.

At its peak, Moreno said the storm had impacted about 11,500 people in Wyandotte County. Those affected by outages were encouraged to call 913-573-9522 to report them.

In a video posted to Facebook late Monday morning, Mayor Tyrone Garner asked residents for patience as “our crews work hard” to clear debris and restore power to affected areas.

“There were several areas that were hit hard throughout the county,” Garner said, advising Kansas City, Kansans to report damage to the city and county government.

Powerful thunderstorms left thousands without electricity Monday as downed trees and damage to residences were reported across the Kansas City metro.

In Johnson County, some schools canceled classes after damaging winds led to power outages, and crews found a damaged gas line on the roof of Mill Valley High School in Shawnee. Private power company Evergy said nearly 19,000 of its customers were affected by the storm.

More severe storms could come later Monday and Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. Possible scattered showers in the afternoon and evening are in the forecast, including a few that may carry 60-mph winds and quarter-sized hail.

The Star’s Robert A. Cronkleton, Andrea Klick and Noelle Alviz-Gransee contributed to this report.