Gary, Indiana Residents Face ‘Survival Mode’ Amid Prolonged Power Outages After Deadly Storms

Beginning August 11, powerful storms walloped northwest Indiana, killing at least seven people, displacing about 1,000 residents, and leaving parts of the region in prolonged darkness. In the town of Gary, where approximately one in three residents lives in poverty according to U.S. Census data, the severe weather knocked out electricity for more than half of the city’s population.

The prolonged outage has left many in the community struggling with daily necessities. “It’s been absolutely horrible,” Shatiya Hardin told CBS News, describing the conditions after the storms. “At night we’re sweating, we’re irritable, we have children to look out for, elderly people who need electricity for oxygen tanks.” Hardin added that residents have been living in survival mode, noting that the area lacks cellular service and roads remain pitch black at night except for the lights of passing cars.

Utility Outages and Recovery Efforts

The regional electrical utility provider, Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO), reported that at the height of the storms, 374,500 customers were without power. As of Sunday morning following the severe weather, just over 28,000 customers remained without electricity. To assist affected individuals, many Gary residents have relied on a local community center providing hot meals, air conditioning, and a place to charge mobile devices.

Indiana Gov. Mike Braun requested an expedited major disaster declaration from FEMA on Thursday for 54 counties. Braun estimated that losses from the storm and its aftermath could exceed $5 billion. “If granted, this declaration will mean significantly more resources to accelerate Indiana’s recovery from the recent severe weather,” Braun wrote on social media.

Legal and Political Fallout

A class-action lawsuit was filed against NIPSCO, alleging that the company failed to proactively trim vegetation away from power lines and that downed trees were the primary cause of the outages. NIPSCO disputed the allegations in a statement provided to CBS News Chicago, asserting that its vegetation management spending has more than doubled since 2016. “We strongly disagree with the characterization of NIPSCO’s vegetation management practices,” the company stated.

Photo: cbsnews.com

“We’re going to revisit what should we do better from an emergency management standpoint,” Gary Mayor Eddie Milton told CBS News. “But going back to the utility side, what I’m going to encourage and demand is that we start having more accountability.”