Weeks after a storm knocked out electricity across Northwest Indiana, many Gary families are still living with the fallout.
For some residents, the damage has extended to spoiled food, broken appliances, mold concerns, missed paychecks, and steep utility bills, turning the outage into an ongoing financial and health crisis.
Here's what to know
Even after power returned, Gary resident Melissa Dixon, a mother of four, told the Chicago Sun-Times she delayed restocking her kitchen because she was afraid another outage would wipe out her groceries.
An Aug. 11 derecho cut power to nearly 375,000 of Northern Indiana Public Service Co.'s 500,000 customers.
At Gary-Chicago International Airport, gusts hit 99 mph. U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan, a Democrat whose district includes Gary, said in a letter that Gary was among the last areas where service fully returned, and he asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to look into NIPSCO's response, according to the newspaper.
Dixon is worried about dark patches on her basement walls that may be mold. She said she began feeling unwell shortly after the lights came back.
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"We're sick because of the mold," Dixon said, per the Sun-Times. "I started feeling really weird, like my vision … a lot of pain in my face and my neck area and going down my arm and my shoulder."
More background
Many households lost the food in their refrigerators, and some found the appliances themselves had stopped working once power returned.
According to the Rev. Eric Boone, senior pastor at Tree of Life Missionary Baptist Church, getting electricity restored did not end the strain for many families.
"Even though lights came on, people's bank accounts didn't bounce back," Boone told the Sun-Times. "People's food, refrigerators, and freezers didn't bounce back. Some people got mold. Some people's houses are wrecked. Some people lost their cars."
Shanequa Cauley lost income, too. Her home was dark for about nine days, but her employer's power took even longer to come back, and she missed roughly three weeks of pay, the paper noted. She borrowed from a friend to cover rent, while free hot meals and a $300 grocery voucher from the City Life Center helped feed her and her 7-year-old daughter.
Dixon got a $374 NIPSCO bill anyway. She wants the utility to answer for the toll on her neighborhood.
What's being done?
In Lake County, more than 33,000 people have applied for FEMA aid, according to the Sun-Times. The agency has set aside $48.2 million for the county but hasn't said how many applications it has approved.
Gary officials have directed $500,000 in relief money to about 1,200 households. The American Red Cross helped some residents get 30-day hotel stays through a state voucher program, per the Sun-Times. Britney Rice, the group's community adaptation program manager in Indiana, said 28 people were still in temporary shelter.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is taking applications through Oct. 25 at DisasterAssistance.gov. The Indiana State Disaster Relief Fund can also cover repairs or replacements for furniture and appliances plus inspections, and residents can apply here.
Anyone who wants in-person help with either application can visit United Steelworkers Local 1014 at 1301 Texas St. in Gary from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Friday, as the newspaper detailed. Boone's church is still running its food pantry, and Hope Alliance of Northwest Indiana is handing out cleaning supplies and paying for laundry services.
Boone said he's been encouraged by how neighbors have rallied. "We are strong," he told the Sun-Times. "We are some that don't give in or give up easily. We might get knocked down, but we refuse to be knocked out."
Where can I learn more?
For families still dealing with the fallout from a long outage, the next question is often how to be better prepared for the next one. These stories explore backup power, solar resilience, blackout responses, grid strain, and utility accountability.
• After repeated outages, homeowners are turning to Generac's battery-backed solar systems over gas generators.
• After Hurricane Milton, one off-grid homeowner said solar panels kept working when neighbors lost power.
• During Cuba's blackout, officials urged households to invest in energy-efficient tech for greater resilience.
• In Georgia, officials warned that power outages are imminent as crypto mining strains the grid.
• In Pennsylvania, regulators are pressing utilities to prove they're fixing it as grid losses persist.
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