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Tens of thousands in northwest Indiana remain without power nearly two weeks after storms

Utility company NIPSCO faces a class-action lawsuit and political scrutiny as prolonged outages affect schools, homes, and public services across the region.

Updated Aug 24, 2026 · 00:32 UTC4 reports

The short version

  • Nearly two weeks after severe storms hit northwest Indiana on Aug. 11, tens of thousands of residents remain without electricity.
  • The prolonged blackout has forced school closures, disrupted businesses, and driven residents to rely on food distribution sites and community shelters.
  • Residents filed a class-action lawsuit against utility provider NIPSCO alleging inadequate tree maintenance, while state officials demanded faster restoration.
  • Utility officials project full power restoration for heavily affected areas, including Gary, by the middle of the week.

Key facts

  • Severe storms beginning on Aug. 11 brought wind gusts up to 100 mph, killed at least seven people, and initially cut power to more than 374,000 customers across northwest Indiana.[BBC News · NPR · CBS News]
  • As of Aug. 23, between 20,000 and 30,000 customers in communities including Gary, Portage, Lake Station, and Munster remained without electricity.[BBC News · NPR · CBS News]
  • Indiana Gov. Mike Braun activated the National Guard, demanded NIPSCO expedite repairs, and requested an expedited major disaster declaration from FEMA, estimating storm damages could exceed $5 billion.[BBC News · NPR · CBS News]
  • A class-action lawsuit filed by residents alleges that NIPSCO failed to properly manage trees near power lines, which the utility denies while stating its vegetation management spending has more than doubled since 2016.[BBC News · CBS News]
  • Civil rights advocates and community leaders criticized the pace of the response, citing systemic inequities in Gary, a majority-Black city where roughly one-third of residents live in poverty.[BBC News · NPR · CBS News]
  • NIPSCO stated the storm caused some of the most complex infrastructure damage in its history, requiring the complete rebuilding of certain systems rather than standard repairs.[ABC News · NPR]

What remains uncertain

  • The exact timeline for full power restoration remains subject to revision, with utility estimates for Gary pointing to either Tuesday or Wednesday.[BBC News · NPR]
  • Whether FEMA will grant an expedited major disaster declaration requested by the governor remains unconfirmed.[BBC News · CBS News]

Sources