Gary residents are struggling to recover from a ferocious storm that shut down the city with a widespread power outage that toppled massive trees and left 95 percent of the city without power.
Mayor Eddie Melton on Wednesday, August 13, declared a local disaster emergency after the storm ripped through Gary and other cities in Northwest Indiana.
A journalist from the Gary Crusader spent two days crisscrossing the city, documenting and taking photographs of the devastation that included massive trees fallen on rooftops and in streets. The Crusader found some cars buried under massive trees in various neighborhoods. There were huge trees down at churches, Marquette Park and Roosevelt High School.
NIPSCO is slowly restoring power to numerous cities in Northwest Indiana, but there are concerns that Gary will be the last among the cities to have their electricity back on.
There were no reported deaths, but on the third day of the widespread power outage, residents are scrambling to find ice, charcoal to barbecue and other essentials to survive the aftermath of the storm as many businesses and schools remain closed indefinitely. Many residents are barbecuing as they remain unable to operate their ovens and microwaves.
On Saturday, August 15, Mayor Eddie Melton at a Lowe’s Home Improvement store purchased chainsaws and other supplies for residents who were impacted by the storm.
But on Facebook, Melon delivered a statement in response to an incident on Friday, August 14. A NIPSCO vehicle reportedly was struck with gunfire while utility crews worked to restore power in the 200 block of Rutledge Street, delaying restoration efforts in the city. A NIPSCO said restoration efforts resumed Saturday evening.
Melton in his statement said the Gary Police Department and the Indiana State Police were working with NIPSCO to provide protection for crews as restoration efforts continue.
“Let me be clear: this type of violence is absolutely unacceptable and will not be tolerated in the City of Gary,” the mayor said, in part. “These crews are here for one reason-to help our residents and restore electricity to families who have already endured days without power.
“We understand the deep frustration” of residents who remain without power, and additional resources are being brought to the table so crews can get back to work safely and restoration can continue.”
The storm also hit the Gary Crusader office on 15th and Broadway, where the front door was knocked off its hinges before it was quickly repaired. Without power, business operations were shifted to the Crusader’s Chicago office that produces the Chicago Crusader. This week’s edition of the Gary Crusader was published on time Thursday and copies to subscribers will arrive by mail.
In Midtown, Gary’s historic Roosevelt High School Building was hit the hardest. The storm leveled two 150-foot evergreen trees that sat in the school’s idyllic front lawn for over eight decades. The storm also struck down several other trees near the building’s historic marker that was installed in 2021. One massive tree fell in the school’s parking lot off 25th Avenue.
The Jackson Family home and neighborhood in Midtown appeared to have suffered minor exterior damage. A large tree branch was on the ground in the backyard of the house at 2300 Jackson St. The tall evergreen trees on the side of the home leaned heavily to the side. On that same street of the famous house, several homes had massive trees on their rooftops and in front lawns. Another massive tree collapsed near the entrance of New Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church on 23rdAvenue. At Grace Missionary Baptist Church on 25th Avenue near Roosevelt High School, the storm toppled an enormous oak tree that fell on the building’s roof near the front entrance.
Two large evergreen trees at the closed Roosevelt High School were toppled by the storm.
Trees were that were toppled during the storm lie in Roosevelt High School’s park lot off 25th Avenue.
At the historic home of the late Congressman Katie Hall’s house near the Means Manor neighborhood, tree branches covered lawns, but her daughter, Attorney Junifer Hall said, the storm also damaged the roof.
“I got tree damage and roof damage. I got a lot of work on my hands,” Hall told the Crusader. “It’s stressful being in the dark. You can’t see, you can’t cook, you can’t do nothing.”
A large tree leans on a house on the same street as the Jackson Family Home.
At the Justice Robert D. Rucker Superior Courthouse on Broadway across from Gary City Hall, several large tree branches littered the building’s parking lot next to vacant Genesis Convention Center. On the southeast side of Sixth Avenue near the old vacant post office building, the storm toppled a huge tree that fell into a parking lot.
In the Black Oak neighborhood, a large tree near the Direct from China Fireworks store brought down several power lines that remained on the ground Thursday.
At Oak Hill Cemetery south of the Glen Park neighborhood, huge trees toppled over gravestones. The Crusader alerted Taylor Funeral Home in Chicago, which owns the cemetery. At 41st and Monroe Avenue, a giant tree lying in the street blocked drivers from passing through.
A large tree lies on gravestones at Oak Hill Cemetery.
In the aftermath of the storm, few businesses in Gary remain open. On 13th and Broadway, the drive thru at White Castle was extremely busy with drivers forming a long line of cars waiting in the parking lot to place their orders. At the Save More supermarket at Ninth and Broadway, a manager told the Crusader the store miraculously maintained most of its power after the storm struck. Most of the ice bins that held the meat and poultry were empty. During a Crusader visit, the store still had ice, but shoppers were limited to two bags with a security guard present.
A woman grabs a bag of ice at Save More supermarket at Ninth and Broadway after the storms knocked out power in Gary and other cities in Northwest Indiana.
Across from the Small Farms apartment complex on 25th Avenue, shoppers at the County Market supermarket bought bags of ice and charcoal that’s used to barbecue meat. A store manager told the Crusader the store was operating on two backup generators with two checkout lanes open. To avoid having its meat spoil, packs of chicken, turkey legs and other meat were placed in numerous shopping carts and sold for $3, regardless of weight.
In that same shopping plaza, an entire gas pump at a Shell gas station was on the ground during a Crusader visit.
At Save More in the frozen food section, freezers were empty on Friday and some shelves that held loaves of bread were also bare. There were some cases of bottled water left when the Crusader visited Friday, and a table inside the entrance held small bags of free food for shoppers to take.
A large refrigerated bin where cold items that include meat for sandwiches were held is empty at Save More.
Shoppers walked to their car after purchasing bags of ice after the devastating storm that hit Gary and other cities in Northwest Indiana.
A Shell gas pumping station lies on the ground as the business remains closed after the storm.
Nearly all gas stations in Gary were out of gas and closed during the Crusader’s visit. But in the Black Oak neighborhood, the Crusader found a Shell gas station open with gas. A security guard stood near the gas pump as drivers in a long line of cars that stretched a city block waited to fill their tanks.
Across the street, Hard Rock Casino of Northern Indiana was open but inside, patrons played slot machines amid hot temperatures. Operating on backup generators, the casino had limited power and had no air conditioning. Doors were kept open and portable fans were running, but they did little to keep the large room cool. Most of the casino’s six restaurants were closed but the Asian eatery YouYu Noodle Bar was open for only takeout orders.
BELOW: Hard Rock Casino of Northern Indiana in Gary’s Black Oak neighborhood had lights on its parking lot and facade and was open when the Crusader visited Friday.
INSIDE: Patrons play the slot machines amid hot temperatures inside the Hard Rock Casino of Northern Indiana while some lights on the ceiling remained off.
Drivers waited in a long line of cars to fill their gas tanks at a Shell station at 29th and Burr Street across of Hard Rock Casino of Northern Indiana in Gary’s Black Oak neighborhood.
Gary’s hardest hit neighborhoods were on its east side, where massive trees fell on homes in Miller and Miller Beach. The damage was especially extensive on New Hampshire Avenue near Route 20, where multiple homes were buried under massive trees that pulled up sidewalks and front lawns. One ranch house saw huge trees in the front and side lawns fall on its roof.
On Grand Avenue in Miller Beach, the storm brought down a large tree in front of the vacant William Wirt High School. In nearby Marquette Park, many trees were toppled along the hiking and walking trails of Marquette Drive. Along Oak Lane Avenue, many large fallen trees blocked roads, and some sat on rooftops of homes.
In the Dunesland Village apartment complex, trees in front lawns were also toppled and the leasing office remained closed.
The Miller K Market on Route 20 remained closed, as wells as businesses along Miller’s busy Lake Street.
NIPSCO workers are working around the clock to restore power that initially left nearly a record 301,000 people in Northwest Indiana, the most in the company’s history. But weather analysts say Gary was among the cities hit the hardest after the storm produced 99 mph winds when it struck the city on Tuesday, August 12. By Thursday, August 14, about 317,000 residents in 117 cities and communities in Northwest Indiana were without power.
As of Friday, August 12, NIPSCO said it restored power to 145,000 customers, leaving 172,000 still without electricity.
The Crusader is monitoring daily NIPSCO’s restoration efforts in Gary as residents continue to live without power.
