‘I can’t take it’: Thousands of Gary residents go over a week without power after deadly storms
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Residents in Gary, Indiana and surrounding areas are struggling to stay cool, fed and connected after storms cause prolonged power outages.
Thousands of residents across Northwest Indiana have been living in darkness for over a week after severe storms ripped through the area last week. On August 11th, stormy conditions brought 99-mph winds to the area, knocking down trees, power lines, and stoplights. As a result, over 300,000 NIPSCO customers have been left without power.
“It’s been really unprecedented. Not just the storm and the size and the magnitude of this storm, but we’ve had really storm after storm,” Vince Parisi, president and chief operating officer at NIPSCO, told ABC News. “We’re still working hard here in Gary and Hammond and a few other places to get that. We’re hoping by the end of the week we’ll have everybody back on.”
“The amount of damage across the service territory, to individuals’ homes, and certainly to our infrastructure has been very significant,” he added, labeling it one of the most destructive storms and largest outages in its history. The storm has also had lethal consequences, as seven people across the state have reportedly died following the devastation.
As of Wednesday, the energy company says it has restored power to over 282,000 customers across Northwest Indiana, but thousands of residents’ homes and buildings remain without power. And of the 83,000 left in the dark, over 27,000 of those are in Gary, per CBS News. According to U.S. Census data, the city has approximately 67,289 residents, 76.2% of whom identify as Black.
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The prolonged blackout has made it hard for many residents to stay cool, fed, and connected. For many residents, the lack of electricity has affected not only their access to food but also to water, as many rely on electric pumps that bring well water into their homes. Additionally, some residents who have taken to social media to document their experiences noted that the lack of power has also increased crime incidents in the area.
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On August 15, a NIPSCO restoration vehicle was struck by gunfire. And while the city’s mayor, Eddie Melton, says he doesn’t “want residents to think because of this one isolated incident that the work is stopped,” the energy company said it temporarily paused restoration efforts in the area to assess security measures, per CBS.
“They aren’t pausing when they take our money. We’re the first to get cut off when anything happens, NIPSCO,” Kenneth Lewis, a local resident, told the outlet.
Another resident, Andre Adams, explained: “It’s hurting us because of the situation, so we have to suffer until they can actually get out here and do something.”
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The blackouts came days before students were expected to begin the new school year, and since then, officials have announced that schools in the Gary Community School Corporation district would remain closed as the community navigates the destruction caused by last week’s storms.
On Monday, Indiana Gov. Mike Braun announced $5,000 grants to help storm victims across the state get basic needs such as food, clothes, etc., which residents can access by calling 211 or going online. Similarly, earlier this week, President Trump reportedly approved the governor’s request for support through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
“For me to go through this, this is a lot. This is just hard for me to even stay here and talk. I’m in a hot house. And I am in here, burning up, sweating from head to toe,” Gary resident Cynthia Bailey told ABC News. “Don’t nobody want to go through this. Don’t nobody want to go through what I am going through, and this is just too much! I can’t take it!… It is just not right. It’s not right. I’m just getting turned away every time I go somewhere to get help.”
On Monday, NIPSCO’s president told reporters he felt “really good about getting 90% of our customers” by Tuesday with remaining outages fixed by Friday.