One week without power: Indiana communities struggle to recover

GARY, Ind. - It has been one week since powerful storms ripped through northwest Indiana — and for many families, the crisis is far from over.

Northwest Indiana power outages

What we know:

At West Side Leadership Academy in Gary, a mobile food pantry was overwhelmed by demand. Gary Community School Corporation Superintendent Dr. Yvonne Stokes said about 150 people were served before the pantry ran out of food.

"This is not our first time doing this. We have a partnership and we have been doing this since May," said Stokes. "But it was real important that we made sure we were able to support today because of what's going on with the storm and the aftermath."

The school district also handed out about 700 grab-and-go lunches over two days last week — and ran out. Without electricity, the district also had to get rid of food that could not be refrigerated, donating what remained to a neighboring food bank. Stokes said families have been asking where they can turn for help with food, clothing and shelter. At West Side Leadership Academy, the power outage has also created problems inside the building. Crews are dealing with fallen trees, water leaks and other damage. Even once the electricity comes back, Stokes said the school cannot immediately reopen.

The district has to go room by room to make sure the building is safe for students and staff, including making sure fire protection systems and other utilities are working. Stokes said the district was hopeful power would return to the building Tuesday.

Big picture view:

The strain is being felt far beyond Gary. Lake Station Mayor Bill Carroll described the storm's aftermath having wide impact.

"This is, like I can't stress enough, this just not a Lake Station problem, a Hobart problem, this is a regional problem that we're going through," said Carroll.

He said the city's fire department has become a central hub for residents — providing food, a place to cool down, charging stations and a place to rest. But local governments are also running low on supplies.

Hobart Township Trustee Fred Williams said the township has already handed out the food it had stockpiled.

"We have no means of right now replenishing what we would put up," said Williams.

He said the township's budget is less than $1 million a year and it has fewer than 10 employees. Still, the township has been working around the clock to help residents. Williams said the community has been serving hot dogs, hamburgers and other meals for days.

For some residents, getting the power back on was only the beginning. Georgia Hatfield of Hobart said her home was without electricity for nearly six days. By the time the lights came back on, her refrigerator was empty.

"Okay, power's back on, but it's an empty refrigerator and no means to replace it right now," said Hatfield.

She said this is the second major storm to wipe out her family's food supply. Hatfield came to the food distribution because her family needed help getting basic groceries. After days without power, something as simple as fresh fruit became a big deal.

"Just seeing that they have strawberries, like I feel like I won the lottery just having fruit in our house again," said Hatfield.

Hatfield said residents are also struggling to find reliable information, gas and other basic necessities. With internet service still unavailable for some people, neighbors have become an important source of information.

"It's turned into old school. Neighbors talking to neighbors and we're all passing it along and try to help each other and let everybody know where the resources are," said Hatfield.

Susana Pedrosa, who lives in Hobart, came to get food and water.

She said she has been trying to get a generator while also caring for a roommate who is 77.

"It's been hard, it's been so hard for everybody, not just for me," said Pedrosa.

Pedrosa said she came looking for food and water and was grateful for the people helping her. For other families, the storm has meant evacuating elderly relatives, dealing with home damage and trying to figure out how to get children safely back to school.

Dig deeper:

Susanna Enslen with the Hobart Township Trustee's Office said her own home remains without power.

Her 87-year-old mother had to be evacuated to South Bend after losing power. Even after electricity was restored, her mother was dealing with problems involving appliances and her water heater.

Enslen said township employees have been dealing with their own damage while continuing to help residents.

The township served more than 700 meals in two days.

"The disaster that our staff is also feeling is the same thing that the community's feeling. We're still showing up here," said Enslen.

Enslen compared the scale of the destruction to what she imagines communities experienced after Hurricane Katrina.

She said the storm has affected nearly every level of life — from schools and homes to roads and utilities.

What we don't know:

The full scope of the damage and how long it will take every community to fully recover remains unclear.

Residents are also still dealing with the secondary effects of the outage — spoiled food, water problems, damaged homes, limited internet access and difficulty finding gasoline.

And even when electricity returns, schools and other buildings may not immediately be ready to reopen.

Gary school officials said buildings must be inspected room by room before students and staff can safely return.

What's next:

For now, local officials say the biggest need is continued help.

Williams is asking people who are able to donate food or other resources to do so.

"If anybody has anything that they would like to donate, please reach out the mayor, Bill, myself. We'll come pick it up," said Williams.

The storm may have happened a week ago, but for thousands of people across Northwest Indiana, recovery is still very much underway.

And as residents wait for power, food and normalcy to return, local officials say one thing has made a difference: neighbors helping neighbors.