NIPSCO: Northwest Indiana power outages unlikely to be fixed for more than a week after severe weather outbreak

Residents in Northwest Indiana may have to wait more than a week to get power back after a devastating outbreak of severe weather Tuesday.

More than 204,000 NIPSCO customers were still in the dark Thursday night, after a derecho that was part of a storm complex that also spawned tornadoes hit the area earlier in the week.

The utility said in a statement on Thursday afternoon that they expect to have 90% of all impacted customers restored by next Tuesday, Aug. 18, and full service restored by Friday, Aug. 21.

Griffith Town Council President Rick Ryfa said NIPSCO told him they hoped to have power restored to most of his town by next Wednesday, Aug. 19, with full power restored by the end of the week.  

"They said maybe 90% of the area would be restored Wednesday and hopefully 100% within the next days after that," Ryfa said. "The issue is the main transmission lines still have trees on them so the trees have to be cleared before they can get to the neighborhoods."

NIPSCO lists more than 8,500 outages in Griffith as of 2:40 p.m. Thursday, in a town of a little over 16,000 residents. That means more than half the town is in the dark. Ryfa said the entire town is without power. The United Way has set up to give people a place to charge their devices, which will operate until 7 p.m. 

"I'm speechless because now I have to plan. I have to long-term strategically think, OK, what am I going to do. We don't have power, we aren't going to have power for a while," said resident Lisa Cisson. 

Alongside Griffith, Michigan City, Cedar Lake, Munster, Crown Point, East Chicago, Gary, Highland, and Merrillville were among the hardest hit areas, according to the NIPSCO outage map.

The power outages in Crown Point shut down the fair planned for this week. Many businesses are closed and streets are blocked off.

"Across the entire city there is no pocket that came out unscathed," said Mayor Pete Land. 

Land said they have also requested help from the National Guard. 

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

Crews have so far been focused on responding to safety hazards like clearing downed trees, repairing critical infrastructure, assessing damage, and preparing locations for restoration work. That work must be completed before the company can restore power to many of their customers, NIPSCO said.

"This is the largest outage event documented in NIPSCO's history, affecting approximately 60% of our electric customers at its peak and causing extensive damage throughout the electric system," the utility said in a news release. "Because of the historic number of outages and the widespread nature of the damage, crews are still conducting damage assessments across the territory."

Gov. Mike Braun said he signed a statewide emergency declaration Thursday, has contacted the Federal Emergency Management Agency for assistance that he expects will take up to a week to arrive, and has also activated the Indiana National Guard to help with storm recovery and management in the northwest part of the state.

Northwest Indiana residents face up to a week more without power

A large portion of a tree left Francisco Santiago's home in Highland severely damaged after Tuesday's severe storms.

On Thursday, Santiago was still grappling with what happened, but like many others he was facing the next challenge from this natural disaster – waiting for power to return.

Santiago was grateful to fill up his gas station on Thursday after days of not being able to find a station.

"Trying to find gas right now is the most terrible thing. We're all trying to get gas right now," he said.

Santiago was staying with his brother in Hammond after his own home in Highland was severely damaged from Tuesday's storms.

"When I got there, a tree collapsed right onto my room. Thank God that me and my mom were not home. We would've been crushed," he said.

In neighboring Hammond, Angel Navarro is among thousands still without power. She was able to get a generator on Thursday to help endure what's ahead, with the possibility of going several more days before NIPSCO can restore power.

"I lost all the food, so I went to the grocery store, and got a little bit more food. I have family here today, so that we can cook the food before it goes bad. We're kind of just limping along," he said.

The Indiana National Guard is now assisting in places like Gary, Munster, and Hobart following Braun's statewide disaster emergency declaration.

In Michigan City, Salvation Army of LaPorte County Maj. Dale Simmons said power outages have also impacted them, but they're persevering with the help of volunteers and donations.

"We have a walk-in freezer and a walk-in cooler and we had to throw away all of that food. All gone," he said.

The organization has distributed hundreds of meals at its offices and mobile units, and is planning for long-term help for residents who need it.

"People just want to help people. Even when they're in need, they're giving back, and I think that's one of the coolest things that's happening here in LaPorte County," he said.

Organizations provide hot meals to powerless Hoosiers

In the wake of the devastation, organizations and neighbors alike are stepping up to provide assistance to Hoosiers who have been impacted by the storms.

In Gary, the local YMCA is offering food, power, and other emergency resources to residents. The City of Gary has already declared a Local Disaster Emergency. 

"It's the spirit of the people in Gary that has just been so encouraging," resident Betty Hinchens said. "Everybody is just trying to work together to survive and to be together." 

In Schererville, Operation BBQ Relief set up outside the Walmart to give free hot meals to residents from there and surrounding communities.

The organization was created by a group of BBQ pitmasters after the deadly 2011 EF-5 tornado in Joplin, Missouri, with the purpose of feeding communities after disasters.

Illinois Area Coordinator Emlyn Thomas said they typically only stay for one to five days, but they're planning to be in Indian for a while.

"We're there quick. We want to be there in the first 24 hours serving meals, taking care of people. That's awesome, but we're done fast. We don't want to be handing out a free meal when a restaurant is reopening or a grocery store is reopening and the economy is coming back. We want to be a good neighbor, not a nuisance. This is different. We're looking at a power grid that's down," she said.

The hot meal meant so much to Roberta Lasocki of Highland, who said she had to throw away a lot of food after losing electricity.

"It's very hard. It's difficult. My husband and I are on social security. It's hard. There's no insurance on it," she said.

Another long line of people waited for grilled hot dogs and chips in Highland. Strack & Van Til grocery stores across Northwest Indiana said they're providing food, water and ice for storm victims.

"It's just been nonstop people and that just tells us we're here for the right reason and that people really do need help. It's hot dogs, it's chips, apples, ice, water; it's not a ton, but we know some of these people have not actually really had a good warm meal to eat since the storm," said spokesperson Zacch Tecklenburg.

Strack & Van Til said they'll stop serving food at 7 p.m. Thursday, but they'll be back Friday and Saturday starting at 11 a.m.