Gary Indiana Mayor Pressures Utility as Blackout Enters 12th Day

More than 10,000 residents in Gary, Indiana, remained without electricity on Aug. 24, 2026, nearly two weeks after a destructive Aug. 11 storm with winds up to 100 mph knocked down power lines across northern Illinois and northwestern Indiana. Gary Mayor Eddie Melton publicly criticized Northern Indiana Public Service Company (Nipsco) over the slow pace of recovery, calling the prolonged outage unacceptable for local families and businesses. "We’re at Day 12 and 12 days is too long for families to be without power," Melton said.

The mayor noted that the city has 700 lineworkers and 300 vegetation crews actively working on restoration efforts, while urging the utility company to accelerate its timeline.

"Twelve days is too long for parents to worry about their children and for businesses to lose revenue and for families to wonder when the relief is finally going to come. I want you to know I share that frustration," Melton said. City officials contracted Egis Group for damage assessments, Thompson Consulting Services for debris collection oversight, and AshBritt for debris removal, while asking residents to sort storm debris into separate piles.

"That’s progress, but Nipsco has so much more work to do," Melton said. Relief efforts intensified on Monday outside the Roosevelt Pavilion, where food critic Keith Lee and Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton each pledged $15,000 to co-host a $30,000 supply distribution event with local partners.

"Gary has always been a resilient city," Melton said. The storm, preliminarily identified by the National Weather Service as a derecho, peak-disrupted 374,500 customer accounts across the region, causing severe localized damage, downed trees, and widespread food loss. Desmond Poppy said his community is "really under siege."

Severe disruptions forced residents to rely on small gas generators to keep cellphones charged, cool infants with electric fans, and attempt to preserve thawing freezer contents.

Denise Bairns said she had been told electricity may not be restored at her home until Sept. 12. "That is too long to be without power," Bairns said. Local resident Destany's family faced mounting challenges when their generator leaked oil and fuel on their concrete front steps while her sister Zarrihyanna tended to her baby.

"The refrigerator leaked," Zarrihyanna yelled.

Her sister quickly reacted to the mess inside the home. "Shut up," Destany says.

The girls searched through household items for supplies to complete daily tasks in the dark. "Mom needs that," Destany says.

The generator struggles to supply continuous electricity to household appliances whenever it shuts off or runs low on gas. "As soon as I put in a little bit [of gasoline], it started," Dixon's son-in-law says. Dixon questioned why the fuel levels ran out so rapidly.

"Because I filled it up," Dixon says.

The extended loss of basic utility services has created severe distress for families struggling to maintain basic living conditions. "Why is this OK?" Dixon repeats. Zarrihyanna expressed her desire to relocate to nearby Portage due to better educational opportunities and local infrastructure.

"I just want to get out of here myself," Zarrihyanna says.

Dixon expressed her commitment to staying in her neighborhood despite the lack of electricity. "I’ve made this my home," Dixon says.

Her daughter questioned how she could remain in the blackout-impacted city. "I don’t see how you do that," Zarrihyanna says.

A neighbor interrupted the family conversation to offer assistance and share news of localized power grid restoration. "I got pizza," a voice says. The neighbor delivered three pizza boxes from Domino's while letting them know power was returning to adjacent blocks.

"Your power’s coming soon," the neighbor says.

Dixon expressed relief as partial neighborhood lighting from streetlights and a nearby church provided visibility. "God bless," Dixon says. Denise Bairns voiced reliance on faith amidst the extended uncertainty.

"I don’t know, all we can do is pray that we get it on," Bairns said.

Indiana Governor Mike Braun mobilized the Indiana National Guard and state agency teams following an Aug. 13 statewide emergency declaration to support NIPSCO power line clearance. "There is no excuse for these delays," Braun posted on X on Aug. 23.

Braun emphasized in an interview with Inside INdiana Business that nearly two weeks without electricity during summer is unacceptable. NIPSCO reported 16,500 customer outages remaining across its service territory as of 4 p.m. CT on Aug. 23, aiming for major restoration in Gary by midnight Aug. 25.

"We have engaged additional contractor crews throughout our service territory and continue to bring in support from neighboring utilities and mutual assistance partners from across the country," the company said. The utility provider emphasized that localized damage could delay power restoration for individual properties past general target dates. "No outage is being overlooked, and no customer will be left behind as we continue this restoration effort," the company said.

Residents filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against NIPSCO, alleging that poor tree-trimming maintenance directly led to the catastrophic line failures.

"This situation was predictable. It was obvious and it was preventable," attorney Otto Shragal of the Allen Law Group said. NIPSCO rejected the lawsuit's claims, stating its vegetation management budget has more than doubled since 2016. "We strongly disagree with the characterization of NIPSCO’s vegetation management practices," the company said.

NIPSCO maintained that its forestry investments demonstrate a clear focus on electric system reliability.

"NIPSCO’s vegetation management spend has more than doubled since 2016, demonstrating our commitment and focus on maintaining a safe and reliable electric system," the company said.