UPDATE: At 9 p.m., more outages were reported in northeast Ellis County. Cross arms were reported broken due to wind and ice load, according to Midwest Energy spokesman Mike Morley. Crews were expected to be working through the night, but prolonged outages are possible, he said.

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Just before 2 p.m. Midwest Energy reported power outages around Hays and Ellis as snow continued to fall in Hays — and winds picked up.

According to the outage viewer on the Midwest Energy’s website, at the peak outage, more than 6,000 customers were affected in various areas of both towns.

Midwest spokesman Mike Morley said there were more than 80 outages across the area due to “galloping lines” touching tree branches.

The outages caused traffic lights throughout Hays to turn off. HPD was dispatched to control traffic at the busiest intersections while crews worked to restore power.

Just before 2 p.m., fire crews also were dispatched to the area of Sternberg Museum to a report of a blown transformer.

The outage map can be found at outageviewer.mwenergy.com

Hays Post will provide updates as they become available.

(Raw Video-Galloping Lines)