Lake and Porter counties were hit hard by two back-to-back storms Monday afternoon that resulted in a lot of wind damage, most notably at the Indiana Dunes State Park in Chesterton, but no reported injuries or fatalities, officials said.
The National Weather Service reported two rounds of storms, the first from about 1 to 3 p.m. and the second from about 3 to 5 p.m., and they “both packed a punch,” said senior meteorologist Brett Borchardt.
The storms caused the most damage — downed trees, siding and roof damage and some damaged power lines — in Dyer, Munster, Cedar Lake, Chesterton and Valparaiso, Borchardt said. The Porter County Regional Airport in Valparaiso reported wind gusts of 64 miles per hour during the height of the storm, he said.
“Both storms were pretty big,” Borchardt said. “A storm of this magnitude in this region is common in July and August. It’s because of the humidity levels. Anyone who went outside (Monday) morning was wearing the air.”
While this is the time of year for derecho storms, yesterday’s storms weren’t classified as such because a derecho typically travels across a few states, Borchardt said. But, yesterday’s storm did cause similar damage that a derecho would leave behind, he said.
Over the next week, the National Weather Service isn’t forecasting storms similar to Monday’s storms, Borchardt said.
“This is one of the most memorable summers with storms,” Borchardt said. “It’s been relentless and we still have to get through August. August usually brings one or two storms.”
The Oak Hills High School boys and girls cross county teams, which planned a week-long camping trip at the park, stepped off the bus in Chesterton on Monday to a tornado warning, said head coach Paige Brunner.
The team, which traveled from Converse located between Noblesville and Fort Wayne, sheltered at the main beach house. When the coast seemed clear, the group started setting up tents for their stay, which was to include trail running and team bonding, Brunner said.
The campsite was mostly set up when another tornado warning went off and a tree fell on the back of a tent with two boys inside. The boys were able to get out unharmed, he said.
Then, two more trees fell and fell on four tents, ruining them, Brunner said. Ultimately, the teams spent the night at a hotel in Michigan City, he said.
The students have been resilient, Brunner said, and they will stay the rest of the week. Brunner said he appreciated the park staff and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources for their help during the storms.
“It was an eventful day one to say the least,” Brunner said. “We lost five tents, a few air mattresses … but thankfully everyone is safe.”
The park was hit hard by Monday’s storms, with the nature center and gift shop closed Tuesday and access to restrooms limited. All locations within the park were without power.
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The park remains open to guests; however, there is no access to the Dunes Pavilion. The beach is open, with a limited number of restrooms available, Department of Natural Resources Public Information Officer Marty Benson said.
The heavy storms downed an estimated 25 trees along the park’s roadways as well as an unknown number on trails. No injuries were reported, Benson said.
Virtually all trails were impassable shortly beyond their trailheads and several will remain closed Wednesday as crews work to open them. Tremont Road, providing access to Tremont shelter and Duneside shelter, remained blocked Tuesday afternoon by several downed trees entangled in power lines. All other roads are passable; however, heavy debris lines both sides of the road in many places.
Both campgrounds were open, although with no power.
“We anticipate a few weeks to have every trail cleared and debris hauled off,” Benson said.
By 4 p.m. Tuesday, NIPSCO reported that 83% of its 66,000 customers with outages as a result of the storms had power restored. The communities most impacted were Chesterton, Cedar Lake, Dyer, Porter, St. John and Valparaiso, according to the company.
Porter County Fair
The storm “was a little frightening now and then,” Porter County Fair Manager Dave Bagnall said.
“We didn’t have any damage, but we had to close down the rides three or four different times because of the winds,” he said.
The power went out for about 45 minutes, but a Kankakee Valley REMC crew quickly restored power. Bagnall said. Vendors and the carnival shut down and people were urged to take shelter during the worst of the storm.
The grandstand concert was delayed about a half hour to 45 minutes. Bagnall said, because performers DaBaby and Flo Rida were stuck at airports in California and Kansas City. They ended up taking private jets instead to get to the fair. After their show, they were stranded in Valparaiso until power was restored to the Porter County Regional Airport and the runway lights could come back on.
“People were in the mood for a concert last night, though,” Bagnall said. When the saxophone started playing the national anthem, “everybody in the audience was singing, and they were singing loud.”
South Shore Line
The South Shore Line experienced minimal damage from the storms, Customer Service & Communications Manager Amber Kettring said. “As the weather moved into Northwest Indiana around 1 p.m., we temporarily halted a few trains out of an abundance of caution pending inspection,” she said.
The railroad’s crews were working with NIPSCO to restorre and clear trees from the rest of the wire Tuesday.
Chesterton
Chesterton spokesman Kevin Nevers said cleaning up from the storm is expected to take weeks.
Chesterton’s wastewater treatment plant recorded 1.74 inches of rain Monday. At the height of the storm, 33 sanitary sewer lift stations lost power. As of 9:15 a.m. Tuesday, 11 lift stations were still without power.
Chesterton Assistant Street Commissioner Dan Moy told Nevers Tuesday morning he guessed 30 to 40 trees along the town’s streets were downed or damaged by the storm. Moy has no idea how many private trees were felled.
For Chesterton, the epicenter of the storm was bordered by 15th Street to the west and Indiana 49 to east, with the South Fifth Street corridor taking the brunt of the storm, according to Moy.
Senior Foreman Keith Parker, a 40-year employee of the Chesterton Street Department, believes Monday’s storm was the second most damaging of his career, Nevers said.
Street Department crews worked until 10 p.m. Monday to make the town’s roads passable, and crews will be working 12-hour shifts at least through the end of the week, Nevers said.
“It’s going to take days and weeks, quite some time, to finish the job,” Moy told Nevers. “I know residents would like us to work around the clock but we can’t do that. We don’t work in the dark. It’s too dangerous. In any case, these guys need to rest and recover because they’re working with chainsaws. We are in full cleanup mode. We are going to work as quickly – and as safely – as we can. Please be patient.”
Porter
“There was a little bit of damage in Porter,” Town Councilman Don Craft said.
A branch cracked a roof on a house across the street from Westchester Public Library’s Hageman Branch, he said.
On Woodlawn, “there was a big old tree that fell, but luckily it fell into the yard,” Craft said.
Valparaiso
“We got quite a bit of rain and wind, but fortunately we didn’t get much damage,” Valparaiso City Administrator Steve Poulos said. “I think we only had three trees down and one tangled in power lines.”
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“I’ve got to give credit to our tree crews,” he said, for taking down high-risk trees to minimize damage when storms hit.
“It seems like the worst of it missed us,” Valparaiso City Services Executive Director Matt Zurbriggen said.
A few pieces of utility infrastructure were on generators Tuesday afternoon, and there was “a little bit of localized flooding,” Zurbriggen said.
“Overall, we fared pretty well.”
Lake County
Lake County Emergency Management and Homeland Security Director Bob Walker said National Weather Service crews were surveying the county for storm damage Tuesday morning. Walker said the county saw many downed trees and siding and roof damage.
Dyer Town Manager David Hein said about half the town saw down trees, outdoor items — like trampolines — blown around, and property damage.
“Historically, it was a pretty vicious storm for us,” Hein said.
The town reported 1.9 inches of rain during yesterday’s storm, Hein said. In June and July, the town has experienced a lot of rainfall, which hass impacted sewers and drains, Hein said. That, in turn, impacts the town’s water treatment plant as it reaches capacity.
It will take about a week to clean up the storm damage, Hein said.
“We’re asking residents to be patient. Please push down branches to the curbs and we’ll come make the rounds,” Hein said.
Crown Point Fire Chief Mark Baumgardner Jr. said fire crews responded to about 15 storm-related calls. The city saw two large trees with lines down around the 700 block of Joliet Street and at Joliet Street and Indiana Avenue, he said.
The city’s Emergency Management Agency responded to the down trees and power lines, and both areas have been reopened, said city spokeswoman Mary Freda-Flores.
Downtown Crown Point reported some power outages, with city hall closing around 3:30 p.m. due to an outage, but power was restored to the downtown area around 8 p.m.
The city’s Public Works Department had nine employees out chipping trees and clearing debris for six hours Monday, Freda-Flores said. The department will have two chipper trucks working 10-hour shifts for the rest of the week, she said.
“While I was out, I saw a lot of neighbors helping neighbors clean up debris and fallen branches throughout the city,” Baumgardner said. “Other (than the down trees and power lines) we fared well.”
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.