Thousands struggling without power in Indiana 12 days after severe storms

Nearly two weeks after a severe storm battered Indiana, Terry Dubois is among thousands still without power. The 77-year-old relies on friends for food and a power bank to charge her phone. Dubois described the storm as a "sheer wall of wind" that struck the region on August 11, causing flooding and tornadoes. Wind gusts reached 99mph in Gary, Indiana, a city along Lake Michigan that was particularly hard hit.

Power has been restored to over 345,000 customers, but nearly 30,000 still remain without electricity, according to the local utility company, Northern Indiana Public Service Company (Nipsco). As the outage entered its second week, global food charity World Central Kitchen arrived to aid those without food. Gary, once home to the world's largest steel mill, has many residents living in poverty, making it difficult to secure food and maintain hygiene during the power outage.

Some residents have reported issues with refrigerating medication and the absence of working lifts. One resident, Kyle Allen, has been caring for his 95-year-old father during the power failure, using a generator to sustain them both. The community has also filed a class-action lawsuit against Nipsco, accusing the company of negligence in managing trees that brought down power lines.

Nipsco denies the allegations and plans to vigorously defend itself in court. Faith leaders have gathered outside a church, demanding more resources to aid affected residents, stating that 12 days of power loss is too long. Nipsco has stated they will restore power as quickly as possible and estimates Gary's electricity will be back on by Wednesday.

Governor Mike Braun has requested a faster major disaster declaration from FEMA, urging Nipsco to deploy all available resources to restore power. Climate change is making extreme weather more severe and frequent, leading Braun to push Nipsco to deploy more crews to address the ongoing power outages.