Gary Ignored?!

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Gary Ignored?!

August 28, 2026

By Tracy Abler, Justice Coordinator

Trees lie toppled in Gary's Miller neighborhood after a historic storm swept through the city on Aug. 11. (Javonte Anderson/Capital B)

On August 11, wind gusts of up to 99 miles per hour ripped through Northwest Indiana. The National Weather Service confirmed eight tornadoes across northern Illinois and Northwest Indiana. Seven people died in storms across the state that week, including in Gary and Portage. NIPSCO is the city’s electrical power company. It was the largest outage NIPSCO’s history, with more than 300,000 customers in the dark. Gary and Portage were put last on the restoration list. Power was finally restored to the majority of Gary residents on Tuesday night, August 25. A full TWO weeks later.
Two weeks with no refrigeration in August. Boil advisories, water main breaks, transformers exploding, sewage backing up and washing clothes in a sink and driving through a city where every traffic light is dark. Gary’s schools, about 4,300 kids, closed on the 13th and stayed closed. Nine days in, more than 22,000 customers in Gary were still out. Read this full story written by Patti Vasquez.

Gary Mayor, Eddie Melton, pointed out that the power infrastructure has been a problem for years and the storm has shed a light on his generally underfunded, underprivileged city. Grammy award-winning rapper Freddie Gibbs, a native to Gary, IN, says his predominately Black hometown tends to be ignored. Watch their full interview here.

Anyone wishing to donate to The Greater Gary Storm Recovery and Relief Fund can visit https://www.gary.gov/stormrecovery

Late on August 25, President Trump approved a disaster declaration for Indiana.

Anyone anywhere seeking disaster assistance can visit: disasterassistance.gov

Tags: learning

Posted in Equity & Human Dignity