Yolanda Ojeda, 65, has been without power at her Locust Avenue house in Gary since Aug. 11. She was prepared for an outage and owned a generator, but after the power went out, she learned it no longer worked.
“It wouldn’t start,” Ojeda said. “After all of that. After carrying it up my stairs and everything.”
On top of that, Ojeda is working long shifts at Cleveland-Cliffs in East Chicago, coming home late at night to no power and without knowing where she’s going while driving.
“I can’t navigate at night without streetlights,” she said. “I mean, power lines are on the road, so I’m driving very cautiously. … And then I come home, and I can’t really see around my house.”
Gary residents have been without power since Aug. 11, and they don’t know when it will come back. The city has yet to be included in one of NIPSCO’s community restoration estimates, which go through 11:59 p.m. Aug. 25. Hammond, East Chicago, Lake Station, Portage, New Chicago and Ogden Dunes are encountering a similar lack of specific information from the utility’s updates.
NIPSCO’s website says that those not listed are still included and could be part of a larger service area or still under assessment.
Gary Mayor Eddie Melton said in a Monday statement that the city is working to help its residents.
“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 resources they need, and help our community recover.”
According to NIPSCO’s website, 26,836 Gary residents still did not have power, as of about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday. A power line fell in Ojeda’s yard after her neighbor’s tree fell on it, she said, but she hasn’t seen anyone from NIPSCO or one of their contractors come out yet to repair it.
But, Ojeda is staying positive, hoping that power will be restored soon.
“I’m blessed that I still have my house,” she said. “I feel blessed that I’m alive, and that I’ve been able to make it to work. I just feel that there’s so many other people who are far worse off.”
Throughout NIPSCO’s service area, 95,161 residents remain without power.
“Since the storm began, NIPSCO has mobilized all available resources, including our own crews, mutual aid personnel, qualified contractors, affiliated employees, and support from the Indiana National Guard and law enforcement,” according to a previous emailed statement. “We understand the frustration of customers who have been without power for an extended period of time. We share that frustration and are committed to restoring every customer as quickly as possible.
“However, restoration is dictated by the severity and extent of the damage. In some areas, repairs to major transmission and distribution infrastructure must be completed before work can begin on smaller sections of the system serving individual neighborhoods. Every community matters to us, and restoration priorities are based on system needs, safety considerations and the work required to restore service to the greatest number of customers as efficiently as possible.”
Ollicia England, 43, lives on East Fifth Avenue in Gary, and she’s also been without power for a week. Her aunt, who lives down the street from England, is also without power and on a heart monitor.
Both women had to get generators for their houses this week, especially since her aunt needs it for medical equipment. Her aunt’s generator was about $400, England said, and hers was about $700.
England feels bad for the older adults, especially those with medical conditions, who are struggling and might not have access to generators.
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“It’s a lot of older people in this neighborhood,” England said. “For them to have to sit out on their porch to get away from the heat in their house, I think that’s bad. It’s really frustrating.”
One of England’s neighbors, 54-year-old Moses Kearney also had to buy a generator this week, he said, spending about $500. Since then, he’s also spent $30 per day on gas and $40 per day on food because he can’t cook or keep any in his house.
As he thinks about his expenses, Kearney said he’s mad and feels that Gary isn’t a priority for cleanup or power restoration.
“It looks like they’re restoring everything in Rensselaer and all those areas,” Kearney said. “Meanwhile, in Gary, Portage and Merrillville, we were hit hard, and we’ve got nothing. … All my expenses are adding up fast, and I’m mad that there isn’t going to be an end to this soon.”
Derek Zugic, 44, said his family owns multiple homes in Gary’s Miller neighborhood and a farm near 24th Avenue and Clay Street. All their houses have been without power since Aug. 11, Zugic said, but they got generators before the storm hit.
Zugic said being without power has still been difficult for his whole family.
“I don’t know how much longer we can do this,” he added. “We kind of knew this was going to happen. I mean, if you drive, especially down Clay Street, there’s old trees laying on the NIPSCO wires, just waiting for some wind to come and take it down.”
Zugic believes that it will take a couple of weeks after the storms for all Gary residents to get power back. He said he’s thankful for the linemen who have worked in the area, and he said he’s seen them making their way through Miller since the Aug. 11 storm.
“They’re out here moving pretty quick, and there’s been a lot of good workers coming into town,” Zugic said. “But if (NIPSCO and the city) would’ve kept up with prior maintenance, this would’ve been a whole different situation.”
Community resources running short
The Calumet Township Trustee’s Office announced Tuesday that it has exhausted its emergency food voucher assistance after serving 773 residents since the storm.
“The need in our community has been tremendous, and demand exceeded the resources available for this effort. We understand that not everyone was able to receive assistance, and we will continue working to identify additional resources and support,” according to a Facebook post by the office. “Unfortunately, our resources are not unlimited. The Township cannot provide assistance beyond the funding and resources legally and financially available to us.”
The office recommended residents contact their state senators and representatives as well as county elected officials regarding what additional disaster resources are being made available to our community. The township’s relief efforts will continue as additional resources are made available, the office stated.
A pop-up Mobile Market at West Side Leadership Academy ran out of food as well on Tuesday, but the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana has scheduled several upcoming events across Northwest Indiana to assist residents in their time of need.
The mobile markets will be open at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Living Hope Church, 9000 W. Taft St. in Merrillville; at 4 p.m. at Portage High School, 6450 U.S. 6 in Portage; and at 4 p.m. Friday at the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana, 6490 Broadway in Merrillville. Additional market dates will be announce at https://www.facebook.com/FoodBankofNorthwestIndiana.
The Gary Community Schools announced additional food distribution events: at noon Wednesday at The Salvation Army Gary-Merrillville Corps, 4800 Harrison St. in Gary; at 8 a.m. Thursday at Calumet Township Multi-Purpose Center, 1900 W. 41st Ave. in Gary; and at noon Thursday at The Gospel Truth Apostolic Ministry, 5829 W. 15th Ave. in Gary.