Folks, I’m sipping my coffee and reading about the devastating storms in northwest Indiana, where tens of thousands of people are still without power more than a week after the storms hit. I mean, can you imagine going that long without air conditioning or a way to keep your food from spoiling? The storms were no joke, leveling trees and knocking down power lines across the region. Northern Indiana Public Service Co. is working nonstop to fix the outages, but 75,000 customers still lacked electricity by late afternoon, mostly in Lake County next to the Illinois border.
I’m reading that the city of Gary is one of the hardest hit areas, with more than 20,000 customers still without power. Residents are lining up at community centers for hot meals and a place to charge their phones. The latest news for Gary isn’t good: full restoration of power isn’t expected until August 25. That’s a long time to go without basic necessities like electricity.
It’s not just Gary that’s affected, though. Roughly 300 poles and 44 power transmission poles need to be repaired or replaced in the area as a result of the storm. Melody Birmingham, an executive at NIPSCO’s parent company, said that the storm carried winds of 99 mph, which is just crazy. She acknowledged the “real burden” of losing perishable food and people living for days without air conditioning after a “historic storm” that initially left 300,000 customers in the dark.
I’ve got to say, I feel for these people. Jeremy Spurrier, a 51-year-old resident of Portage, said he’s fortunate to have a generator at his home, but it’s expensive to run – $75 of gas a day. He’s relying on nonperishable food like soup and driving to Illinois to get ice to chill his insulin. If he runs out of ice, that’s several hundred dollars of insulin just ruined. That’s a tough spot to be in.
Gary Mayor Eddie Melton acknowledged that locals are “frustrated and exhausted” but said more than 600 linemen are working to restore power in the city. Birmingham denied that low-income residents are being overlooked and blamed posts on social media for spreading misinformation. She said that the outages are not a matter of race or division, but rather where the storm hit.
I’m also reading about Myra Carden, a 74-year-old woman from Whiting, who said her home wasn’t damaged by the storm, but she’s been in her second blackout this week. She’s not alone – a 4-year-old boy, three men, and three women have died since the storms began on August 11. Carden uses a generator to keep her refrigerator humming, but only when someone’s home to monitor it. She’s worried about losing all the food in her deep freeze, which is packed full of beef and chicken.
In conclusion, the situation in northwest Indiana is still pretty dire, with tens of thousands of people without power and no end in sight. I hope the crews can get the power back on soon, because going without basic necessities like electricity and food is just not okay. And let’s be real, who needs that kind of stress in their life? Not me, that’s for sure. I’m just going to sit here, sip my coffee, and be grateful for my air conditioning. ☕️
Armchair patriot. Believes in the free market, cold beer, and that there’s always a guy named George behind every CNN segment.
Former remote-throwing champion turned #1 couch commentator on liberal panic in the media. Born in Texas (or so his mug says), he earned a degree in Fake Newsology & Beer Philosophy from YouTube University.
