The trees lining West Seventh Avenue in front of the former Brunswick Elementary School had weathered decades of storms, their thick trunks and sprawling roots becoming fixtures of the neighborhood.
Within minutes, those roots were lifted up by a force of wind stronger than the area had seen before.
“Those trees have been there longer than I have,” said Timothy Mack, who lives nearby. “We’ve had bad storms before, but nothing that pulled whole trees that size up from the roots.”
The destruction along West Seventh Avenue was one piece of a historic storm that tore across Northwest Indiana, packing winds near 100 mph and leaving hundreds of thousands of NIPSCO customers without electricity. In Gary, fallen trees blocked streets and damaged homes, traffic lights went dark, and businesses temporarily closed as virtually the entire city lost power.
As the outage stretched into days, residents, churches, businesses, and community organizations stepped in, distributing food, water, and other supplies across the city.
As food spoiled in refrigerators and residents searched for hot meals, ice, and other necessities, small businesses began finding ways to help.
Kiki White, owner of the Legendary Cheesesteaks food truck, extended her hours, discounted meals, and gave away food to more than 150 people.
“I’m from Gary, and these are my people,” White told Capital B Gary. “When I saw what was happening with the tornado, the power outages, and families being affected, I knew I couldn’t just sit back. I have a food truck, I have the ability to provide food, and I felt like this was a moment where I could use what I have to help.”
For White, the effort wasn’t about making money.
“I just wanted to make sure families had something hot to eat and knew that somebody cared,” White said.
The challenges extended far beyond finding food. Mayor Eddie Melton quickly declared a local disaster emergency, while Gov. Mike Braun deployed the Indiana National Guard to assist with recovery efforts.
“I know these have been difficult and uncertain days for many across our city, and I want you to know that you are not facing this alone,” Melton said. “The City of Gary is here, and we are working every day to respond to the damage, connect residents with the resources they need, and help our community recover.”
The sense of community stretched beyond Gary. Apartment complexes such as Prairie Point in Merrillville offered free meals to tenants. In addition, NIPSCO partnered with several Northwest Indiana communities, including Gary, Merrillville, Hammond, Portage, La Porte, and Highland, to serve free lunches and dinner meals from Sunday through Tuesday at select locations.
Still, the recovery remained far from over Tuesday. Thousands of NIPSCO customers were still without electricity one week after the storm, even as the utility continued making progress toward its goal of restoring service to 90% of affected customers by Tuesday night.
In Gary’s Aetna neighborhood, Jay Spears climbed onto the roof of his home with his cousin, pulling away branches and other debris left behind by the storm. Days after the storm swept through the city, Spears said he was clearing the damage himself.
“I got to do what I got to do,” Spears said. “Nobody will help me for free, so I have to help myself.”
NIPSCO said the Aug. 11 storm caused outages affecting 301,000 of its electric customers, or more than 60%. As of Tuesday morning, the company said service had been restored to 269,000 customers, but 93,000 remain without power. Just over 27,000 Gary customers remained without power as of 11 a.m.
For status updates on outages in the area, visit NIPSCO’s website.
This story has been updated.
Capital B is covering this storm for the people living through it, from the information residents need now to what happens next. Our journalists live in Gary and bring perspectives to this story you won’t find anywhere else.
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