Recovery starts for Merrillville residents after EF-2 tornado leaves destruction, power outages

Northwest Indiana is among multiple regions that are now recovering from the severe tornado outbreak earlier this week.

The Merrillville community is still grappling with destruction caused by an EF-2 tornado that tore through neighborhoods.

As residents pick up the pieces, there's also a race to restore power to thousands of customers in the area.

At grocery store Strack and Van Til, staff offered free meals for the Merrillville community impacted by storms that produced tornadoes and damage.

"We know that there is no power in the area, and ultimately we're trying to find ways that we can help," said the grocer's Chief Operations Officer Joe Stupka.

He says the store will offer meals again on Sunday.

"We just want to make sure that the community is able to eat," he says.

Nearby, the race is on to restore power. Officials with the Northern Indiana Public Service Company, or NIPSCO, say crews have made significant progress.

"At peak, we were at about 86,460 customer outages, and right now we are about 25,000," said NIPSCO communications manager Jessica Cantarelli.

Inside one of the most impacted neighborhoods in Merrillville, resident Krystal Webb and her family are without power but getting by with a generator.

"It sounded like the train was in our front yard, but it was the sound of the tornado," she said.

Her home suffered roof damage, but destruction just down the street shows how close more severe danger was.

"It didn't feel real. It still doesn't feel real ... It's just unbelievable," Webb said. 

"Once we got over here and just saw this sheer devastation, it made me super grateful that my house was still standing and that my children were safe," said resident Amanda McGoldrick.

McGoldrick and Bryan Sprinkle are grateful their home just off West 61st Avenue and Rutledge Street suffered minor damage in comparison to neighbors. Seeing their community in need, they stepped up.

"So I thought to myself, you know, let's go to Costco and Sam's and get a ton of food and just promote it to the community that, you know, we're gonna make a hot meal, come eat with us, have community, talk together," McGoldrick said.

McGoldrick and Sprinkle say they will continue serving food through the weekend.

"We just want to be able to help from within the community," she said.

And continue demonstrating their neighborhood's resiliency.

"We are Merrillville strong," McGoldrick said.

NIPSCO tells CBS News Chicago that their estimated restoration time for 99% of customers is expected by Tuesday evening.