More than 85,000 customers remained without electricity Wednesday in northwest Indiana, more than a week after a powerful derecho on August 11 left the region devastated with widespread wind damage and deadly conditions. The storm caused the largest power outage event in Northern Indiana Public Service Co.’s history, affecting approximately 301,000 customers at its peak, according to NIPSCO.
The derecho brought wind gusts reaching 99 mph in Gary and produced eight confirmed tornadoes across northern Illinois and northwest Indiana, according to the National Weather Service. The storms killed at least seven people, including a 4-year-old boy, according to the Indiana Department of Homeland Security.
NIPSCO has restored power to 285,000 customers since the storms began, but the pace of recovery has frustrated residents. In Gary, a majority-Black city that has been especially hard hit, more than 22,000 customers remained without power as of Wednesday morning. Community centers have opened to provide hot meals and charging stations for residents unable to keep food cold or power essential devices.
Some residents reported being told to expect power restoration as late as August 25, more than two weeks after the initial storm. Jeremy Spurrier, a 51-year-old safety manager in Portage, about 40 miles southwest of Chicago, said his generator costs approximately $75 per day in fuel and that his insulin — worth several hundred dollars — is at risk if he runs out of ice to keep it usable. Neighbors with generators have chained them to prevent theft, while those without power have moved in with others or relied on community food distribution sites.
NIPSCO called the destruction “unprecedented and widespread” and said crews from around the country have arrived to help repair downed wires, broken poles and damaged equipment. The utility said more than 600 linemen were working in Gary alone. However, authorities reported that someone fired upon a NIPSCO vehicle over the weekend while it was making repairs in Gary, prompting officials to increase security for utility crews.
Gary Mayor Eddie Melton acknowledged that residents were “frustrated and exhausted” but said the outage was not limited to his city. “NIPSCO has never ceased or stopped working in the city of Gary,” Melton said. “This is clearly not just a Gary situation. It is a northwest Indiana situation.”
A derecho is a widespread, long-lived line of thunderstorms that produces significant wind damage across a large area. The August 11 storm system moved across portions of the Midwest and Ohio River Valley, causing damage across northern Illinois, northwest Indiana, and into other states. The scale of the outage reflects the destructive power of the system, which also produced heavy rainfall and widespread tree damage.
NIPSCO initially estimated that approximately 90 percent of affected customers would be restored by August 18, with full restoration expected by August 21. As of Wednesday, those timelines have slipped, with the utility continuing to work on the most challenging repairs in areas with the most extensive damage.
Sources
- AP / KJCT8 — confirmed 85,000 customers still without power as of Wednesday morning, 285,000 restored since August 11, deaths, and restoration efforts in Gary
- National Weather Service Chicago — derecho details, wind speeds, tornado counts, and meteorological analysis
- NIPSCO — largest outage event in company history, approximately 301,000 customers initially affected, restoration timeline
- Indiana Department of Homeland Security — death toll and victim details
- NBC Chicago — NIPSCO statement on unprecedented damage and largest outage event in history
