In Gary, Indiana, many residents, including Shatiya Hardin, face the challenge of living without electricity. Hardin described the situation as ‘absolutely horrible,’ sharing that the heat and the needs of children and elderly who require electricity for oxygen tanks make the circumstances particularly dire.
A series of severe storms began on August 11, impacting northwest Indiana with forceful winds and heavy rain. These storms resulted in the deaths of at least seven individuals and displaced approximately 1,000 people. Record rainfall led to significant flooding, affecting multiple communities across the area. In Gary, electricity was lost for over half of the city’s residents, compounded by the fact that one-third of the population lives in poverty, according to U.S. Census data.
Hardin stated, ‘It’s not OK for us to continually be in survival mode,’ emphasizing the lack of service in local neighborhoods. She described the city as ‘pitch black’ at night, except for car lights.
“We don’t have service in this area at all whatsoever,” Hardin said.
As of Saturday, the Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) reported that more than 30,100 customers were still without power. Initially, the storms left 374,500 customers in the dark.
In response to the disaster, Indiana Governor Mike Braun requested a rapid major disaster declaration from FEMA for 54 counties. He estimated that the storm’s damages could exceed $5 billion. ‘If granted, this declaration will mean significantly more resources to accelerate Indiana’s recovery from the recent severe weather,’ Braun shared on social media.
Residents in Gary have turned to a local community center for essential services such as hot meals, air conditioning, and phone charging. A class-action lawsuit was filed against NIPSCO this week, claiming the company failed to maintain vegetation around power lines. The suit suggests that fallen trees and vegetation were key contributors to the extensive outages. NIPSCO disagrees, highlighting a substantial increase in their vegetation management budget since 2016. ‘We strongly disagree with the characterization of NIPSCO’s vegetation management practices,’ the company stated in a message to CBS News Chicago.
Gary Mayor Eddie Milton expressed the need for revisiting emergency management strategies, along with demanding greater accountability from utility services. ‘What I’m going to encourage and demand is that we start having more accountability,’ Milton remarked.
The report also credits contributions from the CBS Chicago Team.