Gary Power Outage Enters Ninth Day After Deadly Indiana Storm

Thousands in Gary and Lake County remain without electricity

GARY, Indiana — Residents of Gary were entering a ninth day without electricity Thursday after the deadly Aug. 11 storm tore down trees, power lines and utility equipment across northwest Indiana, forcing families to discard spoiled food, seek hot meals and find places to charge phones and medical devices.

Northern Indiana Public Service Co., known as NIPSCO, said 68,000 customers remained without power Thursday morning, concentrated largely in Lake County near the Illinois state line. The utility said it had restored service to 306,500 customers since the storm, but warned that some communities, including Gary, might not be fully restored until Tuesday.

The extended Gary power outage has kept schools closed and disrupted work, childcare and daily routines in neighborhoods where residents were already relying on local organizations and social-media networks for basic supplies. People have shared information online about operating laundromats and locations with Wi-Fi, while volunteers have distributed food, diapers and cleaning wipes.

School closures and food losses add pressure on households

Gary Community School Corp., which serves roughly 4,300 students, began its academic year in early August but has been closed since Aug. 13. District officials said schools would remain closed through at least Friday as the area continued to recover from storm damage and the loss of electrical service.

The outage has also sidelined local businesses. Shatiya Hardin, a Gary hairstylist for 25 years, said she has been unable to reopen her salon. While many people in her lower-income neighborhood initially tried to manage without power, she said frustration has increased as the outage stretched into a second week.

In nearby East Chicago, some households that had their power restored experienced another outage. Kevin Mejia, who runs a community Facebook page, said residents have repeatedly contacted him for help after throwing away hundreds of dollars in spoiled groceries. He said elderly residents in particular have struggled to identify reliable sources of food and assistance.

Raydia Martin, assistant director of the Flourish Community Hub at Flourish Church in Gary, said volunteer groups have provided an important response, but uncertainty has weighed heavily on residents. The loss of predictable access to food, cooling and power can deepen stress for families already facing financial insecurity, she said.

Health and safety risks rise as outage continues

Courtney Page-Tan, an Indiana University Indianapolis professor who studies community resilience, said the length of the outage creates escalating health concerns. Generator use can expose residents to carbon monoxide if equipment is used without adequate ventilation, while people who depend on powered medical devices may face dangerous disruptions if batteries cannot be recharged.

Food safety is another growing concern as refrigerators and freezers remain without power. Page-Tan said families living paycheck to paycheck can also be harmed when school closures force parents to miss work because they cannot find childcare.

NIPSCO described the storm destruction as unprecedented and widespread, saying repair crews from around the country had been brought in to replace broken poles, restore downed wires and repair damaged equipment. Company officials said differences in tree cover and electric infrastructure helped explain why parts of neighboring Illinois, served by another utility, recovered more quickly from the same storm.

Elsewhere in Indiana, Portage Township Schools postponed the start of classes from Aug. 12 to Aug. 25, citing downed trees and storm damage at several properties. As of Thursday, NIPSCO crews remained at work across Lake County, with tens of thousands of customers still awaiting restoration and a full investigation of storm damage and recovery operations continuing.