Thousands struggling without power in Indiana 12 days after severe storms
In the town of Gary, where a third of residents live in poverty, people say they have been living in "survival mode".
Twelve days after severe storms ravaged Indiana, thousands of residents, including 77-year-old Terry Dubois, remain without electricity. Dubois has been relying on friends for non-perishable food and a power bank from her son to charge her phone. She noted that the mild summer temperatures have made the lack of air conditioning bearable. Dubois described the storm to the BBC as an unprecedented "sheer wall of wind."
The sudden, severe storms, which included flooding and tornadoes, struck the US Midwest on August 11, impacting areas like Chicago and Indiana, where seven fatalities occurred. The former industrial town of Gary, situated on Lake Michigan's southern shore, experienced the brunt of the storm, with wind gusts reaching 99 mph (159 km/h), according to the National Weather Service. Although the storm itself lasted only five to ten minutes, its effects persist nearly two weeks later.
Northern Indiana Public Service Company (Nipsco), the local electrical provider, reported that while power has been restored to over 345,000 customers, almost 30,000 were still without electricity as of Sunday morning. In the immediate aftermath, essential services like petrol stations, supermarkets, and pharmacies were also without power. As the outage extended, the global food charity World Central Kitchen stepped in to provide assistance. While power outages are not uncommon in this region, those lasting over a week are rare.
Gary, once home to the world's largest steel mill and with a third of its approximately 70,000 residents living in poverty, has been particularly affected. Residents have faced challenges beyond storm-damaged properties, including securing food and maintaining hygiene. There have been reports of people unable to refrigerate medications and a wheelchair user having to crawl down stairs due to non-functional lifts.
Gary resident Kyle Allen told the BBC that some roads have been "pitch black" at night without streetlights. Allen, who is now caring for his 95-year-old father, purchased a generator to sustain them through this extended outage, which he described as different from previous, shorter ones. Demond Pompy, who has been grilling food in Gary, told Reuters that while people take basic amenities like showering and flushing toilets for granted, residents are adaptable. However, Shatiya Hardin described the situation as "absolutely horrible" to CBS, the BBC's US partner, highlighting the discomfort and danger for children, the elderly needing oxygen tanks, and the constant "survival mode."
Amid growing frustration, local residents have filed a class-action lawsuit against Nipsco, alleging the utility company failed to manage the trees that caused power lines to fall. Jack Tipold, a resident involved in the lawsuit, recounted being in the middle of dental surgery when the power failed, forcing him to abandon the procedure and be discharged without adequate pain medication. He told CBS, "I had all my teeth removed, and no medication for 48 hours. Let me tell you something, it was a struggle." Nipsco has denied any wrongdoing and stated it would "vigorously" defend itself.
Faith leaders held a press conference outside a local church on Saturday, expressing alarm over the prolonged outage. According to the Indianapolis Star, one leader stated, "We come together today with one voice, asking those who have the power... to release the resources to our brothers and our sisters, our mothers and our fathers, because 12 days is long enough."
Nipsco announced on Sunday that it is working to restore power as quickly as possible, estimating that Gary would have electricity by Wednesday. The company acknowledged the "frustrating and difficult" nature of extended power loss. Indiana Governor Mike Braun criticized the delays, stating there was "no excuse." He has requested a quicker major disaster declaration from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to unlock additional aid.
With climate change contributing to more severe and frequent extreme weather, such power outages are expected to become more common. Governor Braun has urged Nipsco to deploy more crews and "put every available resource into the field. Get creative" to expedite power restoration.