Kansas City International Airport Experiences Power Outage Amid Severe Weather, Hail

Kansas City International Airport briefly lost power Sunday as severe thunderstorms pounded several counties in Missouri, an airport spokesman confirmed. The outage lasted roughly 20 minutes before workers were able to restore power.

“Due to severe weather power is out at [Kansas City International Airport]. Expect delays and cancellations. [Kansas City Power & Light] en route. No time estimate yet,” airport marketing manager Joe McBride wrote on Twitter at approximately 1:40 p.m. CDT. McBride said service was restored about 20 minutes later. Flightaware said four flights were canceled and 43 delayed.

Customers were encouraged to check for flight information online or to call the airlines to determine which trips were delayed, the Kansas City Star reported. Flightaware indicated Southwest Airlines flights were the most severely affected.

Approximately 60 power outages were reported, many of which occurred in areas north and east of Kansas City, KCTV reported. The power outages affected approximately 1,800 customers, Kansas City Power & Light told the Associated Press. Kansas City International Airport also suffered unspecified wind damage.

The National Weather Service enacted a severe thunderstorm warning throughout the Kansas City metro area through Sunday afternoon. The warning affected Jackson, Clay, Ray and Lafayette counties. A flash flood warning was also put in place for parts of Clay County, Ray County and Clinton County, as strong wind gusts and baseball-size hail battered the affected area. Some areas reported overflowing rivers and downed power lines, KMBC, Kansas City, reported. Flooding has already occurred in some areas, including Clay County, where the Fishing River rose above its banks.

The flash flood warnings were expected to remain in effect until 5:30 p.m. CDT, the Kansas City Star reported. Meteorologists expected anywhere from 1 1/2-3 inches of rain Sunday afternoon, with the storms projected to give way to upper-90s temperatures by Monday.