Deerfield Elementary School and the Lawrence school district offices are closed Wednesday because of a neighborhood power outage. Phone lines are now working at all district buildings except for those two.
Strong winds blew through town during a snow storm, and more than 1,900 Evergy customers in Lawrence were without power as 10:40 a.m. Wednesday, according to Evergy’s outage map.
The district notified staff and families at around 6 a.m. that there was no power and then again at around 6:45 a.m. that all schools, except for Deerfield, would be in session. It also said Deerfield employees would receive an update about reporting to work on a delay once the power is restored.
District spokesperson Julie Boyle at around 10:15 a.m. said the power was still out at Deerfield and district offices. Phone lines had been inoperable at several Lawrence schools, but Boyle said services had been restored everywhere but the two closed buildings by 9:06 a.m.
Boyle called, texted and emailed Deerfield staff and families Wednesday morning. Those who may not have received the notifications should check their contact information in PowerSchool. If it’s current, they can email usd497info@usd497.org with their contact information to ensure they receive them next time.
The district was also posting updates on its Facebook page.
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Maya Hodison (she/her), equity reporter, can be reached at mhodison@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
Severe weather resources
Evergy outages:
• Check the status of power outages on the Evergy outage map, outagemap.evergy.com.
• Report a power outage at evergy.com/report-outage, or call 800-544-4857.
• For down powerlines, call Evergy’s emergency line, 800-383-1183, if above-ground lines are arcing or making contact with trees or vegetation. Call 911 immediately if overhead power lines are on the ground or a fire starts. Do not go near the line.
National Weather Service local office (Topeka):
• Find the latest weather forecast info and severe weather advisories for the Lawrence area at this link.
• In the event of rapidly changing severe weather, such as tornadoes, the NWS posts frequent updates on Twitter, @NWSTopeka. You do not need a Twitter account to see tweets from NWS.
• NWS is also on Facebook, facebook.com/NWSTopeka.
• Call 785-234-2592 to hear the forecast.
Douglas County Emergency Management:
• Follow @DgCoEM on Twitter or Douglas County, KS- Emergency Management on Facebook, facebook.com/dgcoem.
• Sign up to receive emergency alerts at dgcoks.org/emalerts.
• Find lots of tips on severe weather and other emergency preparedness on DgCoEM’s website at douglascountyks.org/emergency-management.
• Report storm damage (for non-emergencies only, and after storm danger has passed) by calling the nonemergency dispatch line at 785-843-0250 or 785-832-7509.
City of Lawrence snow info:
• The city has snow information and a map at lawrenceks.org/snow that shows information about road conditions and where snowplows have been. The city typically begins snow and ice control for residential roadways when 2 or more inches of snowfall or icing occurs.
Get warm in Lawrence:
• See this page for locations to get warm during the day and overnight, where to get help for pets and more.
Highway conditions beyond Lawrence:
• KanDrive, an app and website from the Kansas Department of Transportation, has info on highway conditions statewide. KanDrive is available online at KanDrive.gov, and its app is available for download free on the App Store and Google Play.
Air quality:
• Check the current air quality index in Lawrence and elsewhere through AirNow, airnow.gov.
Latest Lawrence news:
August Rudisell/Lawrence Times
