Hays Post

While retailers are dealing with Black Friday crowds, Midwest Energy crews are working to help customers avoid Blackout Friday.

Midwest spokesman Mike Morley said ice and wind have led to up to 1,000 customers in the Great Bend and Kinsley areas being without power.

“There’s a quarter to half-inch of ice on the lines” he said. “All it takes is a little bit of wind.”

With the wind blowing 10 to 20 mph in the areas of the outages, Morley said the “galloping” effect is causing the disruption (see video).

The outages have been reported from Stafford, Barton, Russell and Edwards counties — and Great Bend-based crews have been working since 4:30 p.m. Thanksgiving Day to restore power.

“Every single person in the Great Bend district that is available is out on the roads right now,” Morley said. “We’re getting to them just as quick as we can … fighting wind and fighting the weather.”

Adding to the rush is the fact that repaired circuits are repeatedly going down, forcing crews to “chase the outages” being repeated in the same areas.

Click HERE for a current list of outages.