Frustration mounts for thousands still without power after deadly Indiana storms

Like so many in Gary, Indiana, Shatiya Hardin has been waiting for the minute her power finally turns back on.

“It’s been absolutely horrible,” Hardin told CBS News. “At night we’re sweating, we’re irritable, we have children to look out for, elderly people who need electricity for oxygen tanks.”

Beginning Aug. 11, several days of powerful storms walloped northwest Indiana, killing at least seven people and displacing about 1,000. The storms brought record rainfall that flooded several communities.

In Gary, the storm knocked out electricity for more than half of the city’s residents, where about one in three people lives in poverty, according to U.S. Census data.

“It’s not OK for us to continually be in survival mode,” said Hardin. “We don’t have service in this area at all whatsoever. At night, the streets, the roads, everything is pitch black besides the lights from the cars.”

As of Saturday, just over 30,100 customers of the Northern Indiana Public Service Company, the region’s electrical utility provider, were still without power. At the height of the storms, 374,500 customers had no electricity.

On Thursday, Indiana Gov. Mike Braun requested an expedited major disaster declaration from FEMA for 54 counties. He estimates losses from the storm and its aftermath could top $5 billion.  

“If granted, this declaration will mean significantly more resources to accelerate Indiana’s recovery from the recent severe weather,” Braun wrote on social media.

Many residents in Gary have been relying on a community center for hot meals, air conditioning and a chance to charge their phones.

A class-action lawsuit was filed this week against NIPSCO, alleging the company failed to proactively trim back vegetation from power lines. The lawsuit alleges that downed trees and vegetation were the primary causes of the power outages.

NIPSCO disputes the claim, saying its “vegetation management spend has more than doubled since 2016.”

 “We strongly disagree with the characterization of NIPSCO’s vegetation management practices,” NIPSCO said in a statement provided to CBS News Chicago.

“We’re going to revisit what should we do better from an emergency management standpoint,” Gary Mayor Eddie Milton told CBS News. “But going back to the utility side, what I’m going to encourage and demand is that we start having more accountability.”