KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Last week, the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners approved a continuation of the emergency disaster declaration issued for storms that hit the area July 14.
About $2.7 million of damage occurred across 12 cities, which exceeds the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s threshold of consideration for assistance, per the county. In Prairie Village alone, the city administrator reported $500,000-$750,000 worth of damage.
By extending the disaster declaration, the county may be able to receive federal funding to reimburse storm-related expenses — damage to residences, public buildings and infrastructure, as well as debris and power outages.
“Ever since the storms arrived, Johnson County Emergency Management has been working closely with the cities to support restoration and recovery efforts and determine the extent of the damage,” Dan Robeson, deputy director of emergency management for Johnson County, said in a news release. “This local disaster declaration will help our community be in the best position possible to recover from the storm and potentially recoup some of the related costs.”
At the peak of the storm, over 186,000 lost power, which Evergy reported was the most number of outages in the past five years.
Restoration efforts took days and were even delayed by another storm Monday, but Chuck Caisley, Evergy’s senior vice president and chief customer officer, promised the company was doing “absolutely everything we can.”
On top of everything, residents spent the following days and weeks clearing downed limbs from their properties.
But just about two weeks later, another round of severe storms rolled through the area, causing upwards of 90,000 power outages and more downed limbs.
Johnson County's emergency declaration is effective until Sept. 30.
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