RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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While much of Northwest Indiana suffered significant power loss from a summer derecho that swept through the region, Gary residents endured some of the longest wait times for service to be restored.
Utility company NIPSCO reported more than 60% of its customers — roughly 370,000 — lost power during the Aug. 11 storm and subsequent days of severe weather. But Gary suffered the most “extensive and complex damage," a company executive has said. Some residents were left without power for weeks.
Once power was mostly restored, the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ spoke with five people helping with relief efforts Wednesday about their experiences and how the city is recovering now that lights are back on.
Allison Looney, who said she lost power in her home for 13 days, inside Brother’s Keeper where she volunteers in Gary on Wednesday. Looney said the experience made her reflect on how people came together in the community when power was out.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Allison Looney, local volunteer
"[We were without power for] 13 days. We got power on Sunday evening, late. Well, dinner time, about 7 p.m. Our air conditioner kicked on, and our stove was trying to light. So thank God [my husband] was home because he kept hearing a ticking sound like that. So we're thankful that he was home.
"I have never been that long without power or internet. The experience [was] stressful, extremely stressful, very hot and muggy and dark. It was very dark. We lost all our food. Well, I shouldn't say all of our food. I was able to salvage some of our freezer food. My mom did get power in Crown Point. I was able to cook some there. But it was pretty intense. A tree came down, actually hit my roof, hit my car, and then landed on my porch. But I didn't know it was uprooted because I was in the house, and both my neighbors came to check on me."
Isaac Mootye, executive director of Brother’s Keeper, a shelter in Gary, Ind., in the shelter on Wednesday. Mootye said power came back to the shelter last Thursday and now they are “back above water.”
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Isaac Mootye, executive director of Brother’s Keeper shelter
"We lost power here in the shelter for over a week. So obviously, you got 25 men in the dark, which is pretty dangerous because these guys are homeless and a lot of them have come from sordid backgrounds. And then, we have people here who are accountants, doctors, nurses — people who are down on their luck — and they come here for a bridge over troubled waters, more or less.
"We couldn't service them like we wanted to because we didn't have heat or cooling. We didn't have food; most of the food went bad, so we had to throw all of it out. Somebody came in and bought a generator to help us out, and that helped a great deal. We were blessed with that until lights did come back on.
Miles Lewis, who is volunteering to clear trees, in front of downed trees on 20th Street and Van Buren Street in Gary on Wednesday. Lewis said their house lost power but they used a generator. “It’s crazy that this happened everywhere,” he said.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Miles Lewis, local volunteer
"We've been getting up trees and stuff out from people's cars and from the front of their houses, and it's a bunch of broken branches and everything over there from the storm that happened. I came to help out because it was in my neighborhood and my church.
"It's rare for Gary, for us, to get something like this for real. I've been living here for 26 years, and I've never experienced nothing like that. ... I'm going to tell you this: We are strong, we are fighters, we are resilient, and we are brilliant. I'm going to tell you that the people of Gary, we mind our own business, we keep to ourselves, and we are a strong people. You think the world has forgotten about us, but we don't forget about the world. And we know how to stand together and come together as a community."
Wendell Romans, a volunteer from Texas, helps clear downed trees on Van Buren Street near 20th Place in Gary on Wednesday.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Wendell Romans, chainsaw coordinator at Texans on Missions
"I'm from just outside of Dallas, but we have teams here from all over Texas. So I'm the state chainsaw coordinator for an organization called Texans on Missions, and we do disaster relief work anywhere that's needed, anywhere in the world. I have 26 chainsaw teams spread across Texas that I deploy to places like this. I have five up here right now, and I've got four more coming in next week. Our specialty is taking trees off and out of houses. We've got heavy equipment, and we can pretty much take care of any tree you want. And the big thing about it is we do it for the glory of God, and we don't charge for anything.
"And the people have been great to us. Yesterday, we said we're going to have lunch. We're all standing around the truck. The neighbors came out and brought us chairs to sit in. So the community has really accepted us. It's been great. It's been fantastic."
Bernell Sampson, a resident of Gary, Ind., on Van Buren Street near 20th Place, where volunteers are clearing downed trees, on Wednesday.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Bernell Sampson, deacon of First Baptist Church
"I lost power for a little while. I have a generator, and then my generator went out. [Now] I have power; they restored it about three days ago. Everybody on my block has it, but still some people [in my neighborhood] don't.
"I've been doing OK; just in and out of the house, just driving around seeing. The Lord's been good to us because [looking at] the damage He did here, that just goes to show you ... the Lord came through and just blew his breath: 10 or 15 minutes, that thing's gone."
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