Nearly 250,000 NIPSCO customers without power after storms hit Northwest Indiana

Nearly 250,000 NIPSCO customers are still without power after storms hit Northwest Indiana. 

The communities facing outages are now bracing for more storms expected on Thursday. 

Munster, Crown Point, East Chicago, Gary, Griffith, Highland, and Merrillville are among the hardest hit areas, according to the NIPSCO outage map.

NIPSCO said this is the largest and most widespread outage event in the company's history.

Gov. Mike Braun said Wednesday he expects to declare a statewide disaster emergency in order to seek federal assistance with recovery efforts due to not only the massive wind damage in Northwest Indiana, but significant flooding in the central part of the state.  

In Illinois, ComEd reported that more than 76,000 customers are still without power. With more storms on the way, ComEd officials said hundreds of extra utility crews from out of state are coming to help restore power.

The Red Cross is warning residents experiencing outages to take caution when using generators.  Officials said they increase the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning if not used properly.