Tens of thousands of Hoosiers remain without power in Northwest Indiana

GARY, Ind. (WRTV) — Tens of thousands of Northwest Indiana residents remained without electricity Thursday, more than a week after fatal storms and flooding hit the state.

In Gary, the Northern Indiana Public Service Co. (NIPSCO) does not expect to restore power fully until Tuesday. The situation is turning dire as food spoils in refrigerators and residents live without air conditioning during the summer heat.

“We ain’t got no gas, no restaurants, no power,” Gary resident Brittany Bankhead said. “Now we have to throw away everything, and night is like Gotham City. You can’t see anything.”

Residents are growing frustrated with NIPSCO as they demand answers for the prolonged outage.

“They need another energy provider to help them because their caseload is too heavy,” resident Thomas Payton said. “They keep asking for increases, but the service is not increasing.”

People are using social media to document the struggle of daily life without power, including a new boil water advisory.

In Griffith, police are visiting homes to check on residents. Some neighbors spoke before the City Council, demanding that officials find a way to turn the lights back on. “I’m diabetic, and I have my medicine in the refrigerator,” resident Bobby Hein said.

In Gary alone, NIPSCO said crews must repair or replace roughly 300 poles and 44 power transmission poles.

“These are lines that ordinarily take us and systems that ordinarily take weeks to months, and are trying to accomplish in days or weeks,” NIPSCO representative Melody Birmingham said.

The Gary mayor acknowledged the local frustration but said more than 600 linemen are working to restore power in the city.

Some cities, including Gary, are offering hot meals to residents.

In Dyer, power returned to the wastewater treatment plant.

NIPSCO promised that more lights will turn on day by day.

This story was created from a TV script from ABC News’ Alex Stone aired on WRTV.