Salina says street clearing a priority as storm cleanup continues

SALINA, Kan. (KWCH) - The entire city of Salina lost power Monday night as storms moved through central Kansas with wind gusts over 100 mph.

Large trees were blown over or uprooted, and power poles and power lines were brought down by the winds.

With some residents still without power and high temperatures settling in, the City of Salina is addressing concerns about how cleanup is being prioritized.

The Smoky Hill River Festival kicks off Thursday at Oakdale Park. While cleanup in the park is being prioritized over other parks, City Manager Jacob Wood said getting the streets cleared is the focus.

“Certainly, the overall priority— and in any disaster, is get streets open and people can get around, and limb haul,” Wood said. “Limb haul will take weeks and weeks. Our parks crews have been prioritizing Oakdale over other parks. However, we have not told any crews working is residential areas to stop what they’re doing and attend to Oakdale— that is not the case.”

Wood said much of the work in Oakdale has been completed by volunteers.

“The River Festival is heavily dependent on volunteers even in a year where we don’t have extra work that needs to be done to get the park ready,” Wood said. “The volunteer group has really stepped in a big way to get things in a position where we can still host the festival.”

A statement from the city posted on Facebook went on to clarify that the only staff at Oakdale are Parks & Recreation, who are responsible for parks, Salina Arts & Humanities, which manages the Festival, and “many volunteers and local businesses who stepped up to help.”

“The Streets Department and Public Works have not been ordered to clean the park ahead of serving residents. Saline County resources have not been used for this effort at all,” the statement reads.

Wood said the city’s next priority is to get traffic lights operational.

Evergy reports that as of Wednesday morning, 92% of the Salina area has been restored. Restoration efforts will continue until later this week. About 16,000 people remain without power in the area.