It will probably take a couple months to dispose of all the trees and limbs that fell in Chesterton during the Aug. 11 storm.
That one statistic, shared by Chesterton Street Superintendent John Schnadenberg, captures the extent of the damage suffered in Chesterton, alongside what most Northwest Indiana communities experienced.
“Literally everyone in town has been affected one way or another,” Schnadenberg said, regarding downed trees.
Chesterton’s Town Council held a special meeting Monday to pass a resolution extending its emergency disaster declaration for 30 days.
Town Council President Erin Collins, D-2nd, who has been periodically sharing video updates on the town’s Facebook page, said that the town still has 1,500 customers without power, down from more than 10,000 outages after the storm tore through town.
There are still some streets in town blocked by downed trees and limbs hung up on power lines.
Many of the town employees have been working 12- to 16-hour shifts since the aftermath of Tuesday’s storm.
“Great accomplishments have been made by teamwork,” said Chesterton Police Chief Tim Richardson, noting that he never would have thought that this much would be accomplished within a week’s time.
Collins said the town made a number of requests for help from the state government, but they have received little response so far.
People and businesses within the surrounding area are lending a hand during a time of need.
Collins thanked the Porter County Emergency Management Agency for rounding up five generators that helped keep lift stations operating.
Utilities Superintendent Dave Ryan asked that people continue their efforts to conserve water because town employees have to monitor three lift stations that were still without power as of late Monday afternoon.
Tarps were donated and made available at the fire department so that people can cover their roofs or damaged areas of their homes. There were also donations of pallets of bottles of water, as Graff Chevy/Ford and the Duneland Chamber of Commerce were among those who stepped up.
More than 300 people came to the Chesterton Fire Department on Sunday afternoon, where a free community dinner was served.
The city of Warsaw has been particularly helpful to the town in its time of need, as every day since last Thursday, they have sent five city workers driving trucks and equipment to help.
“We can’t thank them enough for that,” said Assistant Street Superintendent Dan Moy.
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Moy said the Indiana Department of Correction on Monday sent a crew from a local prison to help clean up debris.
Most of the tree debris is being piled in the parking lot alongside the soccer fields in Dogwood Park.
Downed trees and power lines are the reasons why the Duneland School Corporation has delayed the start of school until at least Thursday. The school district encompasses Westchester, Liberty and Jackson Townships, in addition to Chesterton, Porter and Burns Harbor.
As of Monday morning, only the Liberty school campus and Brummitt Elementary School had power.
The biggest challenge is road conditions, because some roads in the rural areas remain closed and some are not passable for school buses due to low-hanging trees and power lines. There are also sidewalks still obscured by downed trees and branches, according to the school district.
Duneland Schools will seek a waiver from the Indiana Department of Education so the five lost school days won’t have to be made up.
Jim Woods is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.