Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Aug 22
30,000 Northern Indiana Customers Remain Without Power for 11 Days as Gary Waits Until Tuesday
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Aug 22

30,000 Northern Indiana Customers Remain Without Power for 11 Days as Gary Waits Until Tuesday

3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Aug 22

Summary

  • About 30,000 customers across northern Indiana were still without electricity Saturday evening, with outages stretching into an 11th day after severe storms.
  • Northern Indiana Public Service Co. said Gary and nearby Portage would be the last areas restored, potentially not regaining power until the end of Tuesday.
  • Roughly 56% of those still affected are in Gary, a city of 67,000, where residents described spoiled food, damaged homes and growing anger over the slow recovery.
  • The outages followed thunderstorms that flooded neighborhoods and hit the region with hurricane-force winds, leaving snapped trees and downed power lines across the industrial city.
  • The prolonged blackout has sharpened complaints in Gary, a majority-Black city long marked by poverty, population loss and disinvestment, that it is again being left behind.

Insights

Did a historic derecho expose a hidden bias in how utility companies prioritize disaster recovery in disadvantaged neighborhoods?
Are aging above-ground power grids leaving America's most vulnerable cities entirely defenseless against unprecedented extreme weather events?
How did a two-week blackout turn a natural disaster into a desperate fight for survival for thousands of forgotten residents?