The power is expected to be fully restored to most customers in Gary, Indiana, this week after one of the longest and most widespread blackouts in the city’s history.
The prolonged outage comes after a derecho swept through northwest Indiana on Aug. 11, leaving uprooted trees, damaged sidewalks, out-of-service streetlights, and debris scattered throughout Gary.
As thousands of residents remain without electricity, food critic and influencer Keith Lee partnered with the Salvation Army and local officials on Monday for a large-scale relief effort at Roosevelt High School.
Residents could walk up to a Salvation Army truck at one end of the field or join a drive-up line to receive one of 2,000 relief kits. The kits included cleaning supplies such as mops, brooms and brushes, liquid disinfectant, household cleaners, work gloves, N95 masks and extra-thick trash bags.
Volunteers also handed out 1,000 sandwiches, chips and drinks.
“I tell every vendor that we have been going up to how grateful and thankful we are for them,” Gary resident Sonji Williams told CBS News.
Sylvia Martin, the director of planning and zoning for the city of Gary, told the Chicago Tribune that Monday’s event was essential relief for residents.
“It was the community that pulled itself together,” Martin said. “We have a mayor that’s very transformative, and he puts that energy out there, and we get it back tenfold. All of this is the community’s doing…we coordinated the location because of the city-owned property, but everything else is the power of the people.”
Bringing Help to Gary
Lee first announced his plans to support Gary last Friday, ahead of his food tour through the Midwest.
“How we gon’ do a food tour in the Midwest and Gary ain’t had no power, and ain’t nobody talking about it?” Lee said.
Lee said he initially planned to highlight restaurants in Gary as part of the food tour, but changed course after learning more about the storm’s impact.
“The second this happened, everything changed – I had a conversation with my wife, I called my sister, and we completely switched course,” Lee told the Chicago Tribune.
Lee donated $15,000 toward relief aid for Gary residents, while Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton contributed another $15,000.
“We thought we were forgotten about and it’s taken them so long to help us,” Gary resident Willette Wright told CBS News.
@cwjiv Gary Indiana was amazing and @Keith Lee really did a great job bringing awareness to the city! There was so much love out there today and everyone was in great spirits. I’m so grateful I got to experience this and help out where I could! I never knew my videos made it to Gary, it was amazing seeing my supporters and them loving on me, I don’t it for granted and they really touched me ♥️ @Ronni Lee #Keithlee#GaryIndiana#fyp#Indiana ♬ original sound – ✨Content Creator Charles ✨
Catastrophic Storm Leaves Behind Historic Damage
The need for relief comes as thousands of Gary residents remain without electricity more than two weeks after the derecho.
Northern Indiana Public Service Company, or NIPSCO, called the storm the largest outage event in the company’s history, with more than 300,000 customers losing power.
More than 1,200 additional mutual aid crews and contractors were brought in to assist with power restoration efforts.
As of Tuesday morning, 1,141 customers remained without power, according to NIPSCO’s outage map.
The utility provider expects to restore electricity to the vast majority of Gary by Tuesday night.
The prolonged outage has also prompted growing frustration from city officials and residents.
Gary Mayor Eddie Melton told Don Lemon that some reprieve should be given to NIPSCO customers.
“There’s been a local lawsuit that’s been filed by a local attorney, but I anticipate there will be more,” Melton said. He did not go into specifics about the pending litigation.
Melton also emphasized that the storm should not be viewed as a setback for Gary, despite the extensive damage and prolonged recovery.
“This storm itself is just a moment in time that has really shaken us, and it’s going to take time to recover, so we need all hands on deck,” Melton said.
The relief effort is not over.
Lee said there will be another giveaway Saturday from noon to 7 p.m. at Roosevelt Park, where residents will have another opportunity to receive assistance.
By then, residents hope, most of the city will no longer be waiting in the dark.
