Thousands struggling without power in Indiana 12 days after severe storms

What the report says

Thousands of residents in Gary, Indiana, were still without electricity nearly two weeks after severe storms swept through the US Midwest on 11 August, according to BBC World News. The storms brought flooding and tornadoes across the region, killed seven people, and hit Gary especially hard, with wind gusts reported at up to 99mph. Power had been restored to more than 345,000 customers overall, but about 30,000 people remained without service as of Sunday morning, the utility Northern Indiana Public Service Company said.

The BBC reported that the outage has created major difficulties in Gary, a former steel town on the shore of Lake Michigan where about one-third of residents live in poverty. People have struggled to keep food cold, charge phones, refrigerate medicine and maintain basic hygiene. Some streets have also been left in darkness because of non-working lights. Residents described living in difficult conditions, and local groups and faith leaders have called for faster action.

Nipsco said it was working to restore power as quickly as possible and estimated that electricity would return to Gary by Wednesday. Indiana Governor Mike Braun criticized the delays and asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency for a quicker major disaster declaration, which could unlock additional support. The report also notes that residents have filed a class-action lawsuit against Nipsco, alleging poor tree management contributed to the damage. More broadly, the article points to how extreme weather and extended outages can compound hardship in vulnerable communities.