Northwest Indiana residents continue suffering after back-to-back storms devastated the state last week.
Near-100 mph winds and torrential downpours knocked down trees into people’s homes and driveways and flooded basements and roads. Seven people died across Indiana. The storms caused widespread power outages that impacted many parts of the state.
While power has been restored for over 300,000 Hoosiers, many residents are still without power. Gary, one of Indiana’s hardest hit cities, has the most customers in the state waiting for power to return, according to the state’s utility company NIPSCO.
Here’s everything you need to know about what happened in Northwest Indiana and the relief efforts underway to help impacted residents.
When will Northwest Indiana cities get their power back?
NIPSCO reported that over 60% of its customers — roughly 370,000 — lost power during the Aug. 11 storm and subsequent days of severe weather. As of Friday morning, 331,100 customers had their lights back on, according to NIPSCO.
Power should be fully restored to Merrillville and East Chicago by Thursday night. Power is expected to return in Hammond by Saturday and in Munster by Monday. Gary and Portage have to wait till Tuesday for their power to turn on — two weeks after the Aug. 11 storm. Here’s the full list of towns still waiting on power.
Why is it taking so long?
As of Friday morning, 331,100 NIPSCO customers who had lost power their service restore. But in Gary, 56% of the city is still in the dark.
Part of why it’s taking longer to restore power is the city suffered the most “extensive and complex damage” from the storm, mainly because of the 99 mph winds that tore through Northwest Indiana and knocked down several large trees, a NIPSCO executive told reporters Wednesday.
On Monday, residents showed the Sun-Times the extent of the storm damage. The worst of it was caused by mature large trees crashing down onto their property.
Crews of linemen are repairing downed power lines and rebuilding destroyed electrical systems. That includes 335 damaged poles that need to be repaired or replaced and 27 outages at substations that need to be fixed before power can be restored.
Why did ComEd restore power faster for the south suburbs?
The same storm system that wrecked Indiana also caused seven tornadoes in Chicago’s south suburbs. Soon after the storm, ComEd was able to restore power for the vast majority of its customers.
Melody Birmingham, the group utilities president at NiSource, NIPSCO’s parent company, explained to reporters Wednesday why it’s taken the utility longer to restore power compared to ComEd. ComEd has four million customers, compared to NIPSCO’s 500,000. That means the utility has a much larger staff and is better equipped to respond to outages faster.
Are schools still closed?
The damage caused by the storms caused many school districts to close schools until power is restored and debris is cleared.
Gary’s schools have been closed all week. As of Thursday afternoon, Gary Community School Corporation was still waiting for power to return to all of the city’s schools. The school district, which is posting regular updates on its website, has not said if schools will reopen next week.
In a note posted to the School City of Hobart’s website Wednesday, superintendent Peggy Buffington said the school district anticipates schools opening on Monday.
How have businesses been impacted?
Many restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, banks and small businesses across Northwest Indiana are also still without power. Many businesses remain closed, while others are able to partially operate.
Gary was Chamber of Commerce President Charles Hughes said he does not have a timeline for when businesses will have power restored because NIPSCO is prioritizing hospitals and homes.
What resources are available?
Crews from FEMA and the Indiana Department of Homeland Security are assessing the damage across the state.
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun has also activated the state’s disaster relief fund. Residents can apply online for relief funds. Immediate emergency grants are currently capped at $5,000.
Several community groups are also providing resources and shelter. The YWCA, 150 W. 15th Ave., is offering round-the-clock shelter, warm meals and charging stations. The Monroe Center, 4101 Washington St., is offering emergency shelter to residents whose homes were impacted. Family Life Community Center, 565 Massachusetts St., is distributing hot meals and groceries.
Capital B Gary has compiled this list of resources for those in need of help, including where to get hot meals, power for their devices and emergency shelter.
