Severe storms came through the Manhattan area Monday night, causing street flooding and power outages.
Manhattan Regional Airport reported wind gusts of up to 63 mph during the storm, and up to 6 inches of rain fell in the area. The National Weather Service in Topeka issued a severe thunderstorm watch at around 7:30 p.m. Monday, and the storm continued through much of the night.
The storms brought heavy rain, winds and a lot of lightning. The roundabout on North Third Street and Bluemont Avenue flooded by 11:30 p.m. and vehicles struggled to get through waters at that intersection.
Both Vattier Street and Kearney Street also flooded at Third Street. By 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday the waters had receded enough to make the roads passable. Tree branches went down because of the high winds and littered many streets, including Bluemont Avenue, Vattier Street and Kearney Street.
The National Weather Service issued a flood warning effective until noon on Tuesday because of excessive rain from the storm.
Some area rivers, creeks, streams and other low-lying areas may be flooding, NWS said. As of noon on Tuesday, the Wildcat Creek water level at Manhattan Scenic drive was 7.38 feet, below the action level of 9 feet. The level is down from the minor flooding stage of 16.99 feet reached at 2:30 a.m.
The areas affected by the flood warning included portions of Pottawatomie and Riley counties.
Aggieville and the neighborhoods around North 12th Street and Bluemont Avenue were without power until 3 a.m.
A total of 2,816 customers were without power in Manhattan because of the storm. As of 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Evergy said it had restored power to 60% of its customers affected by the strong storms.
Evergy said its crews and contractors from Missouri and areas of Kansas are working to restore power in the areas with the most damage. The company said that because of the number of outages and nature of the damage — poles, tree damage, and downed wires — it expects power restoration to extend beyond Tuesday for some areas with severe damage. Evergy said its crews will work around the clock until all customers’ power is back on.