Powerful derecho leaves thousands in Northern Indiana without power for 10 days

More than 10 days after a powerful derecho swept through northern Indiana, thousands of residents in and around Gary remained without electricity Saturday morning.

According to the Northern Indiana Public Service Co., more than 33,000 customers were without power Saturday morning. At the height of the storm, more than 374,000 customers lost power.

The utility company said power for some Gary residents may not be restored until Tuesday. Mayor Eddie Melton has called on NIPSCO to bring in additional lineworkers to speed up restoration efforts.

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This has been a true fight, Melton said. They tell us the power will be restored by Tuesday, Aug. 25. That is far too long. We are requesting and demanding additional linemen and crews so we can get the support we need.

Melton said he is hopeful power will be restored sooner than Tuesday, adding that the outages have strained public resources.

NIPSCO said the storm caused significant damage to its infrastructure.

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We know this storm caused unprecedented and widespread damage across our electric system, resulting in extensive outages, broken poles, downed wires, damaged equipment and thousands of individual repairs that must be completed before service can be fully restored, the company said. Our goal is to fully restore service to impacted communities and customers.

According to the National Weather Service, the Aug. 11 storm produced a 99 mph wind gust in Gary. Three deaths were reported in northern Indiana, including that of an unhoused woman near Gary who was struck by roofing debris.

The derecho caused significant wind damage from Iowa to South Carolina.