33,124 Nipsco Customers Remain Dark for 11th Day as Indiana Residents Sue Over Storm Outages
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Aug 22
33,124 Nipsco Customers Remain Dark for 11th Day as Indiana Residents Sue Over Storm Outages
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Aug 22
Summary
33,124 Nipsco customers were still without electricity Saturday, with some Gary residents told service may not return until Tuesday, nearly two weeks after the Aug. 11 storms began.
300 power poles were damaged after winds reached 99 mph in Gary, part of a storm system that brought tornadoes, flooding and more than 374,500 outages across Nipsco's territory.
Residents filed a proposed class-action lawsuit accusing Nipsco of failing to trim trees that toppled lines; the utility denied that, saying its vegetation-management spending has more than doubled since 2016.
Gary neighborhoods reported food lines, closed businesses, dead phones and nights spent in cars for air, deepening anger in a city where about one-third of residents live in poverty.
54 counties were included in Governor Mike Braun's request for an expedited FEMA major disaster declaration, while a state relief fund is offering emergency grants of up to $5,000.