Fourteen Days After a Historic Derecho, Indiana's Lights Are Back On

It has now been two weeks since a derecho roared through the northwestern corner of Indiana, cutting power to nearly 375,000 customers. While crews are still working overtime to try to restore power, all customers are expected to be back on the grid by Tuesday. Here is the latest.

Residents of Northwest Indiana Endure Two Weeks Without Power

A potent line of storms tore through portions of Indiana on Tuesday, August 11, causing widespread damage and bringing down trees and power lines. As of August 24, Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) said that roughly 11,000 customers were still without power. Full restoration is expected by Tuesday, bringing an end to the two-week saga.

The storms that impacted the region two weeks ago were preliminarily classified as a derecho, a long-lived windstorm that can stay on the ground for several hundred miles. The August 11 derecho was the third of its kind this year in the U.S. Wind gusts clocked in at 99 mph in Gary, Indiana.

It has been terrible timing for residents without power and air conditioning for so long. High temperatures have hovered in the 80s on most days since the storm hit. Overnight lows have bottomed out in the upper 60s and low 70s, bringing just a small degree of relief to residents trying to cool their homes after the sun goes down.

Residents of the community of Portage broke out in cheers on Sunday when the power finally returned. Amelia Lopez told the media that she felt compelled to clap when the power was switched on after what she called an emotional 13 days. Other residents said that seeing the utility crews work in the neighborhood was a sign that life was getting back on track.

The community has benefitted from local organizations on the scene providing hot meals and basic supplies to get through the trying times. Charging stations were also made available so that residents could still use their smartphones.

Destruction Made Power Restoration Efforts More Difficult

The damage caused by the powerful derecho made it more challenging for power restoration crews to do their work. Hundreds of power poles and lines, along with dozens of transmission poles, were either damaged or destroyed by the storms. NIPSCO said that the August 11 derecho broke 1,230 power poles.

The restoration effort was stalled further on Friday when a transmission equipment failure triggered additional outages in the region just as progress was being made. Schools in Gary were closed for over a week just as students were returning to the classroom after summer break. Most schools were able to open again on Monday after a two-hour delay. The Bethune Early Childhood Center is still closed as it remains in the dark. For residents of northwest Indiana, the return to normal cannot come quickly enough.

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