'Survival Mode': Gary, Indiana Hits Day Nine Without Power After Storm Wrecked the Grid
Tens of thousands are still in the dark more than a week after 99-mph winds flattened power lines across Lake County — and utility crews say some homes won't see the lights back on until Tuesday.
Nine days after a violent storm tore through northwest Indiana, tens of thousands of residents were still without power Thursday, throwing out spoiled food, lining up for hot meals, and hunting for anywhere to charge a phone.
The storm hit Aug. 11 with winds reported as high as 99 mph, toppling roughly 300 utility poles and 44 transmission structures in Gary alone and knocking out power to more than 60% of customers served by Northern Indiana Public Service Co. — about 370,000 homes and businesses at the peak, according to NPR. NIPSCO has restored power to more than 306,500 customers since then, but as of Thursday morning roughly 68,000 remained in the dark, concentrated in Lake County near the Illinois border.
Gary's public schools, serving about 4,300 students, opened for the year in early August and then closed again Aug. 13 — they remain shut. NIPSCO has called the damage "unprecedented and widespread" and says crews from around the country have joined the repair effort.
"Nine Days Is a Long Time"
For residents, the outage has stretched from inconvenience into crisis. "It's not OK for us to continually be in survival mode, doing the best that we can," Gary hair stylist Shatiya Hardin told NPR. Community organizer Kevin Mejia said the need has been overwhelming: "If I make one post, I get 500 comments" from people asking for food, diapers or cleaning supplies for neighbors going without.
NINE DAYS IS A LONG TIME FOR A COMMUNITY TO BE WITHOUT POWER
Courtney Page-Tan, a disaster-resilience researcher, called the length of the outage itself alarming, telling NPR: "Nine days is a long time for a community to be without power." Public health officials have separately flagged rising risks from generator misuse, including carbon monoxide poisoning, along with concerns for residents who rely on powered medical equipment.
NIPSCO has told local outlets, including The Times of Northwest Indiana, that it expects to restore power to the large majority of remaining Gary customers by 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 25 — two full weeks after the storm hit. Utility crews have had to replace damaged poles and equipment from scratch in some of the hardest-hit neighborhoods rather than simply restring wire.
Until then, residents are relying on churches, laundromats and libraries with generators or intact power for basic needs, while local officials work to distribute ice, water and hot meals to the neighborhoods still waiting.