Indiana Town Faces Severe Hardship After 12 Days Without Power
Residents in the Indiana town of Gary are facing severe hardships as they enter their twelfth consecutive day without electricity following a destructive storm system that swept through the US Midwest. The prolonged outage has forced many in the community into what they describe as "survival mode," struggling to secure food, preserve medication, and maintain basic hygiene.
The crisis began on August 11, when a wave of sudden, severe storms brought flooding and tornadoes to parts of Chicago and Indiana, resulting in seven deaths. In Gary, a former industrial town located along the southern shore of Lake Michigan, the National Weather Service recorded peak wind gusts of 99 mph (159 km/h). Although the worst of the storm lasted only five to ten minutes, its impact has lingered for nearly two weeks.
Impact of the Storm and Prolonged Outages
According to the local electrical utility, Northern Indiana Public Service Company (Nipsco), power has been restored to more than 345,000 customers since the storm. However, as of Sunday morning, almost 30,000 customers remained without electricity. While short power outages are not uncommon in this region of the United States, outages extending beyond a week are highly unusual.
The prolonged blackout has hit Gary particularly hard. According to US Census data, one-third of the town's roughly 70,000 residents live in poverty. In the immediate aftermath of the storm, essential services including petrol stations, supermarkets, and pharmacies were left without power, forcing residents to rely entirely on whatever supplies they had on hand. To assist those lacking access to food, the global food charity World Central Kitchen arrived in the area as the outage stretched into its second week.
For elderly residents, the situation has been especially challenging. Terry Dubois, 77, described the storm as unlike anything she had ever experienced. "I've never seen a storm like that in my entire life. Never, never," Dubois said, recalling that it felt like "a sheer wall of wind." She has relied on friends to deliver non-perishable food and uses a power bank provided by her son to keep her phone charged. Dubois noted that, fortunately, the summer heat has not been too punishing, reducing her need for air conditioning.
Daily Struggles and Vulnerable Populations
Other residents have had to take extraordinary measures to cope with the lack of electricity. Kyle Allen, who is currently caring for his 95-year-old father, purchased a generator to keep their household running. He noted that at night, local roads have been left "pitch black" due to the lack of working street lights.
Shatiya Hardin described the ongoing conditions as "absolutely horrible" for families. "At night we're sweating, we're irritable, we have children to look out for, elderly people who need electricity for oxygen tanks," Hardin told CBS, a US partner of the BBC. "It's not OK for us to continually be in survival mode."
The outage has also created severe safety and health hazards. Reports have emerged of residents unable to refrigerate vital medications, and at least one wheelchair user was forced to crawl down stairs due to non-functioning lifts. With climate change making extreme weather events more frequent and severe, experts note that such prolonged power outages are likely to become a more common challenge for utility infrastructure.
Legal Action and Community Frustration
In response to the prolonged blackout, local residents have launched a class-action lawsuit against Nipsco. The lawsuit accuses the utility company of failing to properly manage trees near power lines, which subsequently fell and caused the widespread outages during the storm.
One plaintiff in the lawsuit, Jack Tipold, recounted being in the middle of dental surgery when the power failed. The outage forced the dental staff to abandon the procedure, and Tipold was discharged without adequate pain medication. "I had all my teeth removed, and no medication for 48 hours. Let me tell you something, it was a struggle," Tipold told CBS.
Nipsco has denied any wrongdoing in relation to the lawsuit and stated that it intends to "vigorously" defend itself in court. On Sunday, the utility company expressed understanding of the community's anger, stating, "We recognise how frustrating and difficult it is to be without power for an extended period." Nipsco estimated that electricity would be fully restored to Gary by Wednesday.
Demands for Urgent Action
Local faith leaders have joined residents in demanding a faster response. On Saturday, leaders held a press conference outside a local church to call for immediate assistance. "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," a spokesperson said, according to the Indianapolis Star.
Indiana Governor Mike Braun also intervened on Sunday, stating there was "no excuse for these delays." Braun has requested an expedited major disaster declaration from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to unlock federal resources for the affected areas. Additionally, the governor urged Nipsco to deploy more field crews to accelerate restoration efforts, telling the company to "put every available resource into the field" and "get creative."
