Thirteen days after severe storms swept through Gary, Indiana, a significant number of homes and businesses in the majority Black city remained without power. This prolonged outage has caused considerable distress for residents, with some likening the situation to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Kimya Williams, a 50-year-old Gary resident, described the power loss as "too triggering" and "too dark," prompting her to leave her home for Indianapolis to stay with her children. "It was too triggering. It was too dark," Williams told The Associated Press. She resorted to using her car battery and an inverter to preserve food in her refrigerator, a method she learned during Hurricane Katrina. Upon returning home after power was restored, she found her food had spoiled and her house smelled of mold and mildew.
Gary Mayor Eddie Melton called the pace of restoration "unacceptable," emphasizing that 12 days without power is an excessive duration for families to endure worry and for businesses to lose revenue. "We’re at day 12 and 12 days is too long for families to be without power, 12 days is too long for parents to worry about their children and for businesses to lose revenue," Melton stated.
Northern Indiana Public Service Co. (NIPSCO), the local electricity provider, reported that over 370,000 customers initially lost power due to the Aug. 11 storms. By Monday, more than 364,000 customers had their service restored, with the remaining customers expected to have power back by Tuesday. NIPSCO stated, "Our teams are assigned to outages large and small, and we remain committed to reaching every affected customer in all of our communities. No outage is being overlooked, and no customer will be left behind as we continue this restoration effort."
Legal Action and Official Investigations
A lawsuit was filed in state court by a resident of neighboring Porter County, accusing NIPSCO of negligence. The complaint alleges that the utility failed to adequately maintain trees and vegetation near its power lines, which predictably led to the recent outage and others. The lawsuit requests a class action on behalf of Indiana residents affected by the outages.
NIPSCO strongly disputes these allegations, stating in a written statement that it will "vigorously defend" itself in court and asserting that its vegetation management practices are overseen by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.
In response to the ongoing issues, Indiana Governor Mike Braun announced that he has directed the state consumer advocate to petition for an investigation into NIPSCO's storm preparedness and response. The investigation is also set to examine whether the utility adequately maintained vegetation and cleared rights-of-way to protect its infrastructure, and if funding allocated by state regulators for infrastructure and reliability improvements was utilized as promised.
Disinvestment and Vulnerability
Experts note that individuals with lower incomes are often more vulnerable during severe weather events. Gary, a city that has experienced decades of disinvestment following population and industrial decline, has a poverty rate of over 29%, significantly higher than Indiana's statewide rate of about 12%. The estimated median household income in Gary is approximately $40,752, considerably lower than the state's median of $71,959.
Stephen Pantano, senior vice president of market transformation for the Urban Land Institute’s Impact Lab, explained that financial security provides more options during crises. "Some people don’t have the luxury of owning a car to drive somewhere else or having access to a place to go that’s outside of their immediate community where there might still be power," Pantano said. He added that aging infrastructure and disinvestment can exacerbate the impact of severe weather on communities that have long faced such challenges.
Erin Carreon, who is pursuing a doctorate in social work at the University of Chicago and grew up in Gary, cited white flight and the closure of steel factories as contributing factors to the city's long-term neglect. "I grew up in Gary and social inequality was very evident to me. Seeing how the city has been neglected over the years has been very central to my life," Carreon said.