ComEd in Northwest Indiana to assist NIPSCO in power restoration efforts

ComEd crews have arrived in Northwest Indiana to assist NIPSCO in restoration efforts nearly two weeks after powerful storms knocked out power across the region.

As of Saturday, more than 30,000 NIPSCO customers remained without power. Gov. Mike Braun, in a statement, said NIPSCO needs to send in more crews and resources.

ComEd announced that it was sending dozens to assist in restoration work with NIPSCO crews. 

Much of Gary has been without power since storms hit on Aug. 11 and NIPSCO estimates full power restoration for the city won't happen until Tuesday at the earliest. 

In the meantime, fish fries are just one example of how the community is stepping up to help its own.

Jimmy Lane lives in Indianapolis, but grew up in Gary. He does community fish fries and cookouts and after hearing from his family in Gary about the prolonged power outage, he organized and put on a fish fry for those impacted.

"The city is of in need of a lot of help," he said.

Gloria Lofton is among the hundreds who came here to get food. She got power recently, but still needs help recovering.

"It means a lot when you can't replace your food right now," she said. "My daughter all the way from Chicago brought me some food today to bring to my freezer ... it was just empty. We had to throw all that out, what was in there."

Imam Amiin Almusaddiq of the Gary Muslim Center says they had a food pantry, but they lost everything after the area took a devastating blow from those severe storms. He says he has tried to overcome the storm's impact to continue helping his community by gathering donations to help distribute.

"The best thing I believe that has come out of this is that it has brought the whole city together as one community," he said. 

"I was like, 'Ok, you know what, let me just help a few families out and it turned into something bigger."

Help is also coming from across state lines, with Deandra Gathings of Rinse Cycle Valet in Chicago offering people in Northwest Indiana to have their laundry washed and dried for free. 

She says it's been overwhelming the support she's received for the effort.

"This is something so small to me, but I knew it was going to mean something more to others, but I did not expect this type of turnout," she said.

On Friday, NIPSCO estimated Hammond should have power back by Saturday night. Portage and Gary aren't expected to have power fully restored until Tuesday.  

A class-action lawsuit has been filed against NIPSCO, accusing the company of failing to properly manage trees and vegetation around power lines before the storms.