NW Indiana power outages expected until next Tuesday, 2 weeks after 8 tornadoes hit Chicago area
More storms are possible on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.
MERRILLVILLE, Ind. (WLS) -- One week after severe storms hit the Chicago area, thousands remain without power across several northwest Indiana communities on Tuesday, and for some, there is no end in sight.
This comes as the National Weather Service provided an update on last week's storms, saying at least eight tornadoes touched down in the Chicago area on Tuesday.
ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch
The NWS said a derecho moved across portions of the Midwest and Ohio River Valley during the morning and afternoon hours.
The derecho produced swaths of widespread 70 to locally 100+ mph straight-line winds across northeastern Illinois into northwestern Indiana that resulted in widespread wind damage across the south and southwest Chicago suburbs and northwest Indiana.
A peak wind gust of 99 mph was recorded at Gary/Chicago International Airport in Gary.
In addition to the straight-line winds, eight tornadoes were confirmed in the NWS Chicago area:
- Oswego, IL: EF-0
- Norman Township, IL: EF-0
- Morris, IL: EF-0
- Wilmington, IL: EF-1
- Mokena, IL to Tinley Park, IL: EF-1
- Orland Park, IL to Munster, IN: EF-1
- Monee, IL to Crown Point, IN: EF-2
- Glenwood to Lansing, IL: EF-1
The damage is still impacting thousands of northwest Indiana residents, with NIPSCO saying some custome5rs are expected to be without power until next Tuesday, two weeks after the storms.
Griffith residents' patience wearing thin as outages continue
Griffith police officers are conducting door-to-door welfare checks as thousands of residents remain without electricity.
About one-third of the town remains without power, or roughly 5,500 customers, according to town leaders, who are urging NIPSCO to speed up restoration efforts.
Some people said they understand that NIPSCO is doing the very best they can following the worst outage that the utility has seen in its history, they but wish the company was more transparent about where the work is getting done.
"We're still working hard here in Gary and Hammond and a few other places to get that. We're hoping by the end of the week we'll have everybody back on," said Vince Parisi, NIPSCO president and COO. "We will get to everyone... We're not going to leave any customer behind. I just believe that patience is important."
Residents voiced frustration during a Griffith Town Council meeting, saying they have seen little progress in some neighborhoods.
"I haven't had power in seven days," resident Bobby Heinze said.
Heinze said the outage has created additional concerns for his health.
"I'm diabetic and I have my medicine in the refrigerator," he said.
Town leaders also criticized communication from the utility company.
RELATED | Track power outages in your area with the ABC7 Chicago Power Outage Tracker
"It's frustrating. We're not getting an honest discussion back from them," Griffith Police Chief Albert Tharp said.
Resident Matt McCarty said storm debris remained throughout parts of town.
"We haven't seen anybody assess anything. From behind Wood & 39th all the way to Arbogast, there's about 8 trees down still," McCarty said.
Contractors were seen removing debris from Broad Street, where cleanup efforts continued a week after the storms left behind downed trees and damaged power lines.
"This tree's been here as long as the home, and we've never been out of power longer than 24 hours, and this has been the worse I've ever seen," resident Tom Serratre said.
Griffith Town Council President Rick Ryfa said debris removal on some streets only began after he directly contacted a NIPSCO lineman. Ryfa said he also remained without power and was using a generator at his home.
"NIPSCO doesn't allow anybody including the town to clear tree limbs that are on live wires or even dead wires. That's their policy," Ryfa said.
NIPSCO did not immediately respond to questions about whether removing debris and trees from power lines is the responsibility of the utility or individual municipalities. NIPSCO also did not immediately answer ABC7's questions about restoration efforts and the crews involved.
Ryfa said residents' patience is wearing thin as outages continue.
"I think today is the breaking point when we're not seeing a whole lot of NIPSCO trucks in town," he said. "Unfortunately, if I were in NIPSCO upper-management, high-level, somebody's going to be fired."
In an earlier statement, Ryfa said the town still had a large portion of its population without electricity.
"We understand we're not the only ones to be affected by this terrible storm, however, we still have three-quarters of our population without power," he said.
Extended outages expected in Munster and Highland
The prolonged outages extend beyond Griffith.
Top Stories
"There are some people that I think have gotten some, but basically the whole town of Munster does not have any power," Munster resident Cynthia Bertagnolli told ABC7. "I don't know if it's acceptable, but like I said, seeing what they have to deal with."
In Munster and Highland, NIPSCO has estimated some customers may remain without power until next Tuesday.
"We still have not seen one NIPSCO truck. It's always been these out-of-state companies, which we're so grateful for, but we haven't seen anything from NIPSCO," Munster resident Dawn DeMario said.
A utility crew from Jacksonville, Florida, arrived at Dawn DeMario's house while an ABC7 crew was there. DeMario said it marked the first crew to arrive there in days.
"We still have not seen one NIPSCO truck. It's always been these out-of-state companies, which we're so grateful for, but we haven't seen anything from NIPSCO," DeMario said.
Munster's Jonathan Musto and his family have been finding air conditioning in their camper. They have been running on a borrowed generator and going across state lines to get fuel.
"We actually think it's the first time in history people from Indiana were going to Illinois to get gas," Musto said.
With a week to go before the estimated restoration date, people across Munster and Highland are waiting and trying to find ways to keep busy.
"My two boys moved out a couple years ago, so I've just been keeping busy. I'm like rearranging closets and putting things away," Bertagnolli said.
It has been a week since Meloney Prentice has had electricity.
"It's different," Prentice said. "It's different. We just have to do what we have to do to get by every day. We're so used to having power."
She's one of the lucky ones in the Merrillville area who has a generator, but many here have been suffering in silence in the dark.
Thousands experiencing outages are relying on food giveaways. Tuesday afternoon at the Dean and Barbara White community center in Merrillville, NIPSCO, the city and others are serving 500 meals and other resources Tuesday.
"This is day seven for some of us who have still not had any power, any rescuing of the trees being picked up, but our town is a whole," Merrillville Councilwoman Shauna Hayes said. "They have been doing everything they can getting the debris in the street picked up so our streets are open."
Meanwhile, Maria Ojeda drove an hour and a half from her home in Hammond to bring her daughter some much-needed supplies.
"Today, I brought her water, distilled water, drinking water some other stuff, ice of course," Ojeda said.
The situation is like that for thousands of people impacted by the severe storms.
Deborah Levels said the outage has been really tough on her daughter who heads off to attend college at Princeton University on Friday.
"She had a Zoom meeting for Princeton that she had to go find somewhere where she, it'll be logged on for her Zoom meeting. It's just been difficult being here seven days without any power," Levels said.
NIPSCO has described the outage as the worst in the company's history and has asked customers to remain patient as restoration efforts continue.
Pritzker issues disaster proclamation after Illinois storms
Additionally, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has issued a disaster proclamation following weeks of severe storms this year. The proclamation comes one week after tornadoes caused damage in Illinois.
It includes damage in Cook, DuPage, LaSalle, and Will counties last week. Many of those communities had been hit by storms already this year.
The proclamation also covers storms that hit the Chicago area last month, adding Lake (IL) and Kane counties in our area.
The declaration, which took effect immediately, makes additional state resources available to support response efforts.
Storms possible Tuesday night
And there is a severe weather threat Tuesday night as recovery continues.
Rain delayed Tuesday night's Crosstown Classic game between the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago White Sox at Wrigley Field.
From 7 p.m. to midnight, there could be some strong thunderstorms or isolated severe storms. The main concerns are high winds and heavy rain.
From midnight to 3 a.m., lingering showers and isolated thunderstorms are possible.
The area is under a Level 1 risk of severe weather Tuesday. Southern Wisconsin is under a Level 2 risk.
