Thousands in Northwest Indiana Face Extended Power Outages After Severe Storms
Nearly two weeks after severe thunderstorms struck northwest Indiana on August 11, thousands of residents remain without power. As of Sunday, over 16,000 people in cities like Gary, Portage, and Munster are still waiting for electricity restoration, according to NPR. The storms caused significant damage to local power infrastructure, leading to prolonged outages. Civil rights advocates have criticized the response, highlighting racial disparities in aid distribution. The ACLU Indiana noted that Gary, a city with a 76% Black population, had nearly 25,000 customers without power eight days after the storm. Melody Birmingham, an executive vice president at NIPSCO's parent company, stated that the damage has made repairs particularly challenging. 
