Widespread power outages, long lines at gas stations in Northwest Indiana in wake of Tuesday's storms
Hundreds of thousands of people in Northwest Indiana remained without power on Wednesday afternoon, a day after powerful storms caused widespread wind damage across the region.
The widespread power outages have sent customers swarming to any grocery store they can find that's open to get food and other supplies, and to gas stations to keep generators running.
Inside the Meijer grocery store in Highland, many staples were in high demand, and some brands of bread and eggs were sold out. It is one of the only stores in the area with the lights on.
As of 5 p.m., NIPSCO was reporting more than 268,000 outages in Northwest Indiana.
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.
At the Meijer gas station in Highland, several lines snaked through the parking lot and onto the main road on Wednesday.
"Today, we heard that this was open, and this is like the only thing that is open," said Mike Siedentopf, of Munster.
His family drove 10 minutes to Highland and waited two hours to buy gas for their home generator – a wait that some said isn't worth it.
"It's not worth sitting in line for four hours, and then having pedestrians yell and scream in your face over getting some gas. It's not that big of a big deal," Saber Abdul said.
Lines at some Indiana gas stations were so long, tempers accelerated quickly, with some drivers getting out to confront people they suspected of cutting in line, while other drivers laid on their horns.
At a Luke gas station in Merrillville, drivers watched as power crews hit the road from nearby NIPSCO headquarters.
"We prepare for these storms, and we were prepared to respond to this storm. That includes staffing," NIPSCO communications manager Jessica Cantarelli said.
NIPSCO said Tuesday's storm caused the worst damage in the utility's history.
Outages peaked at more than 300,000 customers, more than 60% of the homes and businesses the company serves. While additional crews have been brought in from other utilities to help restore power, there is no timeline yet on when everyone's power will be back on.
"We also have resources on hand; 1,200 contractors from various states across the country have arrived to help restore Northwest Indiana," Cantarelli said.
People waiting in lines at gas stations said they're not worried about them running out of fuel. They have seen refill trucks come through, but they have also seen cars run out of gas before they make it to the pumps.
