In an effort to accelerate restoration work, ComEd dispatched more than 60 employees to northwest Indiana on Saturday to assist NIPSCO crews. The workers are expected to remain in the area for several days.
Thousand of Indiana residents have been without power since Aug. 11 after several rounds of strong storms rolled through the Chicago area.
As of Saturday afternoon, NIPSCO reported more than 30,000 customers were still without power in northwest Indiana.
Residents across northwest Indiana hope additional utility crews from ComEd will help speed up power restoration efforts as thousands continue to cope with extended outages caused by severe storms on Aug. 11.
Gary and Portage remain among the communities with the largest number of customers without electricity.
For Gary resident Yvonya Randle, the outage comes at a particularly difficult time. Randle is pregnant and past her due date. She has been without power for more than a week while caring for her two young children.
"I actually made 40 weeks last Monday. We just passed Monday and I've been trying to keep chill and not go into labor because nobody wants to bring a newborn home with no power and stuff" Randle said.
RELATED | Track power outages in your area with the ABC7 Chicago Power Outage Tracker
Randle was among many people who visited First Baptist Church of Gary on Saturday to receive hot meals and other assistance.
"We had people lined up at 7:30-8 a.m. this morning for a giveaway that started at 11 a.m., so we've seen a lot of desperation," said Nicole Guns, Senior Pastor at First Baptist Church of Gary.
Talisha Burnett, another Gary resident, said the prolonged outage has created difficult living conditions inside her home.
"I have to sit in my car and get some air because as of right now with all the storms and then no air in the house, my whole house has so much moisture built up. My furniture is ruined," Burnett said.
Cleanup efforts continued Saturday across the city. On 21st Avenue, crews used heavy equipment to remove debris and tree branches that damaged homes during the storms.
Kimberly Lopez said power lines remain draped over her property , which is still without electricity.
"I lost chickens. I had a coup of 10 chickens back there. As soon as the power line came down, they died," Lopez said.
She added that the outage has forced her family to spend money on temporary housing.
"We've been back and forth and hotels are getting very expensive," Lopez said.
NIPSCO said its crews continue to work around the clock to restore electric service across the region.
"People are really resilient and just hopeful in the midst of a difficult situation," Guns said.
Local churches and community organizations said they plan to continue hosting food distributions and relief efforts until power has been restored to all affected residents.
Also Saturday, the Chicago Bears announced $200,000 in donations to storm relief efforts in southeast Cook County and northwest Indiana.
The team said $100,000 is going to Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago and $100,000 is going to Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Gary.
Indiana Governor Mike Braun is asking the federal government to issue a major disaster declaration to help with relief efforts across the state. The request estimates property damage costs have topped $5 billion.
Meanwhile, a class-action lawsuit against Northern Indiana Public Service Company has been filed. The lawsuit claims NIPSCO inadequately performed vegetation management in and around power lines and that fallen trees led to power outages that impacted people's lives.
The lawsuit filed on behalf of Indiana residents alleges the widespread outages could have been prevented. Attorneys representing plaintiffs claim NIPSCO failed to properly manage vegetation and did not conduct adequate inspections of utility poles and power lines.
NIPSCO denied the allegations, saying it maintains an active vegetation management program and plans to vigorously defend itself through the legal process.
The utility also addressed concerns from customers who remain without power while continuing to receive utility bills.
"With respect to customer's bills, we've suspended any kind of disconnection through the next week," said NIPSCO President Melody Birmingham. "We'll continue to work with our customers and put programs in place for any customers who have a difficult time paying that bill."
NIPSCO issued the following statement Friday:
"We strongly disagree with the characterization of NIPSCO's vegetation management practices in the Amended Complaint and the various press conferences held by the law firm of Kenneth Allen Law Group. We will vigorously defend the company through the legal process. NIPSCO's electric operations, including its active vegetation management program, are overseen by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission. NIPSCO's vegetation management spend has more than doubled since 2016, demonstrating our commitment and focus on maintaining a safe and reliable electric system. NIPSCO understands the impact that prolonged outages can have on our customers and communities, particularly following storms, and in particular, the severe weather events that caused unprecedented damage across NIPSCO's electric system that recently transpired. Safety and reliability are fundamental to how we operate, and we have established processes and procedures to maintain our electric system, including our vegetation management program. Our immediate focus remains on restoring service to affected customers safely and as quickly as possible."