More than 20,000 residents in northwest Indiana remained without electricity on Sunday morning, nearly two weeks after severe storms impacted the region. The outages followed a bout of severe weather on Aug. 11 that included wind gusts reaching 100 mph. Affected areas include Gary, Portage, Lake Station, and Munster.
The Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) reported that repairs were still underway as of Sunday. Gary Mayor Eddie Melton stated that at least 17,000 of the city's citizens were still without power on Saturday. NIPSCO officials have estimated that electricity for Gary residents will be restored by the end of the day on Tuesday, Aug. 25.
Melody Birmingham, executive vice president of NIPSCO’s parent company NiSource and president of NiSource’s utilities division, described the storm damage as one of the "most extensive and complex" situations the company's recovery crews had ever faced. Birmingham stated that crews were rebuilding systems that typically take weeks or months to complete, attempting to finish the work in days or weeks. During the start of the outage, NiSource Inc. announced it would pay approximately $140 million in dividends to shareholders.
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun activated the National Guard to assist with restoration and issued a public demand on Saturday for NIPSCO to increase resources and crews to complete the work. Additionally, President Trump approved an emergency declaration for Indiana, authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to assist in recovery efforts. Residents have been seeking aid at shelters and food distribution centers while local schools remain closed.
A person living in the affected region would notice a complete loss of standard home utilities, affecting refrigeration, lighting, and climate control, with the current estimate for full restoration in Gary set for Aug. 25. The situation has also drawn attention to infrastructure equity; civil rights leader Bernice King and the ACLU of Indiana stated that the slow pace of restoration in Gary, where the population is nearly 80% Black, follows a pattern of neglect in Black communities. They argued that disaster relief must reach all communities with equal urgency.
The event has led to direct intervention by both state and federal governments. The activation of the National Guard and the federal emergency declaration involve taxpayer-funded resources from FEMA to supplement the private utility’s repair efforts. The incident sets a precedent for how state leadership interacts with private utility companies during extended service failures, as seen in Gov. Braun’s public demand for NIPSCO to "get the job done." Restoration efforts are scheduled to continue through at least Tuesday, Aug. 25.