In the heart of Lake County, Indiana, the city of Gary began breathing a sigh of relief as power slowly started making its way back into homes on Tuesday. This much-needed reprieve came as local community groups and school officials united to aid families still grappling with the aftermath of prolonged outages—some stretching days, others even weeks.
Although residents are bracing for more potential storms on Wednesday, Tuesday’s return of electricity provided a bright moment worth celebrating.
ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch
“We jumped up and down. I came in actually, and I was just like, ‘Oh, finally!'” Dasia Blackmon enthusiastically shared with ABC7, capturing the elation that filled the air as power flickered back on.
For Blackmon, the return of power was not just about convenience—it was about comfort. For the first time in two weeks, she could relax in front of her air conditioner, a much-needed respite from the recent summer heat.
“I was having to have my window open every night just to get a breeze, and honestly, that was terrible because the mosquitoes invaded my home,” Blackmon recounted, highlighting the challenges faced by many in the community during the outage.
Angie Hicks is one of the lucky ones. The caregiver said her service came back online Monday night.
“It’s very inviting to have our power back on because power is everything,” Hicks said. “See, we lost our electric, and God restored the power.”
Track power outages in your area with the ABC7 Chicago Power Outage Tracker
NIPSCO restored power to nearly all of Gary just hours before its restoration estimate. Some customers remained without electricity earlier Tuesday.
“My emotions are all over the place. I can’t wait for my power to be restored because the first thing I’m going to do is some washing,” Gary resident Antionette Nero said.
Nero was among the 375,000 Indiana customers who lost power when storms moved through the area on Aug. 11. On Tuesday, brush and debris remained piled along roads throughout Gary.
“It was just so much tree damage. And I think they should bury these power lines so, you know, this won’t happen again,” Nero said.
The utility said as of 5 p.m., it has restored power to 99% of customers in northwest Indiana. Gary resident Jeremy Bradley hopes Tuesday will be one of the final days that he will have to come to a community center for a hot meal.
“I’m pretty much somewhat believing what they’re saying, but then, I’ll just be glad when everything gets back on track,” Bradley said.
Sponsored by the City of Gary, the City Life Center of Northwest Indiana has been serving three meals per day since the storms hit. City officials vowed to continue help those in need even after the power comes back on.
“And then, on the other side, we have supplies where they can get household supplies to help them clean their homes, clean up from not having power and things like that,” City of Gary hub head volunteer Marsa Jones said. “After this, the city is still gonna continue to support. There’s different events and things that they are planning to do just to support the citizens of Gary.”
NIPSCO has faced increasing criticism about its preparedness and response. A group of customers filed a class-action lawsuit, and Indiana Gov. Mike Braun has called for an investigation.
“I do feel that this is necessary,” Blackmon said.
NIPSCO said it will cooperate fully.
“I just want to say to the workers that I appreciate them, and even though it felt so long, they still came and did what they had to do. Overall, we have power, so I really can’t complain anymore,” Blackmon said.
Additionally, Braun said Tuesday that President Donald Trump approved his request for a major disaster declaration, which makes federal funding available to affected residents.
One utility worker said his company was called in by NIPSCO from Jacksonville, Florida, to assist with restoration efforts. He said crews expect to remain in the area for several more days.
And residents said it is still an uphill battle with financial strain as they must now fight to replace what was lost. Some say the disaster has caused the community to come together to help each other, and Gary is stronger because of it.
“I just pretty much believe that it pretty much brought the community more together, just learn how to learn to pray for each other, keep our faith in trust in,” Bradley said.
Residents described a difficult stretch that left food spoiled, homes uncomfortably hot and everyday necessities harder to access.
“Two weeks without no power. It’s an experience that I don’t want nobody to experience,” Gary resident DeAndre Collins said.
Collins said support from neighbors and relatives helped his family get through the outage.
“If it wasn’t for the community and the family, we’re done,” he said.
The Gary Community School Corporation partnered with several community organizations for a Community Giveback event, where families received school supplies, hygiene kits, snacks, and shoes.
Chelsea Whittington, chief of public and community relations for the Gary Community School Corporation, said the response reflected the way residents rallied around one another during the crisis.
“With so many people losing power, we somehow found our power and became empowered to come together as a community,” Whittington said.
Organizers said the event was intended to do more than distribute supplies.
“What we’re giving away is just support. And I think sometimes people get caught up on the things that are being given, but it’s really about the neighbors and about seeing people come together,” said Heather Lindsay of Butterfly Dreams.
Butterfly Dreams board secretary Tiffany Davis said the storm highlighted challenges that already existed for many residents before the outages began.
“Food insecurity, transportation, those things were already barriers before this storm,” Davis said.
She said community members and organizations stepped up to help families throughout the recovery effort but stressed that residents’ needs will not disappear as power is restored.
“You have a city that is not void of advocacy, void of compassion and love. I think what needs to happen is people continue to listen to us and not sweep those things under the rug and not dismiss them,” Davis said.
Residents and organizers said restoring electricity is an important milestone, but many families still face the costs and consequences of going without power for an extended period.
Meanwhile, Chicago’s south suburbs and northwest Indiana are under a Level 2 risk for severe weather on Wednesday, while much of the rest of the area is under a Level 1 risk.
There is a 2% risk of tornadoes in the south suburbs and a 5% risk of tornadoes in northwest Indiana.
Cook County Radar DuPage County Radar Will County Radar Lake County Radar (IL) Kane County Radar Northwest Indiana Radar
Copyright © 2026 WLS-TV. All Rights Reserved.