Having previously enduring stifling heat with sunny skies, Kansas City, MO was not expecting a sudden summer storm to tear through the town, cluttering roadways with debris, downing power lines and knocking out power to about 50,000 homes on Sunday.

Emergency crews stayed busy, mostly responding to the dangerous downed power lines in the area and clearing debris. Storm watchers in the area clocked winds in excess of 70mph, and the deluge that ensued dumped an inch of rain on KC in less than an hour.  Damage seemed so severe that residents were asking whether tornadoes were responsible.

Kansas City Light and Power responded promptly, working late into the night and through this morning. Despite their best efforts, about 18,000 residents remain in the dark. The power company set up a station at a nearby hardware store to hand out dry ice to affected citizens, distributing about 2 tons of it in just one hour.

KCL&P reminds Missouri residents to never go near a downed power line and report all outages and all potentially hazardous line and electrical issues. The utility is working hurriedly to restore power to everyone.