Thousands struggling without power in Indiana 12 days after severe storms
Nearly two weeks after severe storms tore through the US Midwest on 11 August, tens of thousands of people in Indiana remain without power, with the former industrial town of Gary hit particularly hard. The storms brought flooding and tornadoes to Chicago and Indiana, killing seven people, and residents in Gary—where a third of the roughly 70,000 population lives in poverty—have since struggled with spoiled food, poor hygiene, unrefrigerated medication and unlit streets. The prolonged outage has caused mounting frustration, exposing how vulnerable poorer communities are when critical infrastructure fails for an extended period.
Wind gusts peaked at 99mph during the storm, and although more than 345,000 customers have had power restored, almost 30,000 remained without electricity as of Sunday morning, according to utility firm Nipsco. Local residents have launched a class-action lawsuit accusing Nipsco of failing to manage trees that brought down power lines, which the company denies, while charity World Central Kitchen has stepped in to help feed affected residents and faith leaders have publicly appealed for the crisis to be resolved.
- Almost 30,000 in Indiana still without power 12 days after storms
- Gary, Indiana, hit hardest; a third of residents live in poverty
- Residents suing utility firm Nipsco over fallen power lines
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Storms tore through the US Midwest on 11 August, bringing flooding, tornadoes and winds gusting up to 99mph to the Chicago and Indiana area, killing seven people. Twelve days on, tens of thousands of homes and businesses in Indiana are still without electricity, with the city of Gary among the worst affected. Gary is a former industrial town where roughly a third of its 70,000 residents live in poverty, leaving many particularly exposed to the effects of a long outage.
The prolonged blackout has left people dealing with spoiled food, difficulty keeping clean, medication that needs refrigeration going unusable, and streets without lighting at night. Nipsco, the utility company responsible for restoring power, says it has reconnected more than 345,000 customers, though close to 30,000 remained without power as of Sunday morning. Some residents have brought a class-action lawsuit against Nipsco, alleging it failed to properly manage trees near power lines, a claim the company disputes.
The situation matters because it highlights how a natural disaster's effects can drag on long after the storm itself has passed, and how those impacts fall hardest on communities with fewer resources to cope. It has also drawn in outside help, including the charity World Central Kitchen providing food to affected residents, while local faith leaders have called for the outages to be fixed.