10 days in the dark: Indiana derecho leaves thousands waiting for power
Tens of thousands of customers remained without power more than a week after a derecho tore through northwestern Indiana, with some outages expected to last into next week.
Severe storms unleashed damaging winds across Indiana and Illinois, bringing down trees and power lines and damaging homes and buildings.
One of the strongest thunderstorm complexes of the summer is still disrupting daily life in northwestern Indiana, where tens of thousands of customers remained without power more than a week after a derecho tore through the region.
As many as 374,500 electric customers lost power after a powerful line of storms swept through the area on Tuesday, Aug. 11, according to Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO).
The storms were classified as a preliminary derecho, a long-lived windstorm capable of producing widespread damage over hundreds of miles. It was just the third derecho reported in the U.S. this year, with wind gusts reaching 99 mph in Gary, Indiana.
Nearly two weeks after the storm, more than 44,000 customers were still in the dark. In Gary and Portage, Indiana, full restoration is not expected until Tuesday, Aug. 25.
An electrical worker on the street for repairing power in Gary, Indiana, on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, more than a week after a deadly storm passed through the area. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Homes have become uncomfortably warm without air conditioning, with high temperatures reaching the 80s on most days since the derecho and overnight lows only dipping into the upper 60s and lower 70s.
"We're trying to maintain, but it's not easy," Gary resident Cynthia Hunter told CBS News. "As far as charging phones or anything else electronic, we take it to the car and charge it. We spent the night in the car, the truck, a couple of nights just for air."
Local organizations have stepped in to provide hot meals, basic supplies and charging stations for communities waiting for power to return.
The damage left behind by the storm has complicated restoration efforts, with hundreds of power poles and dozens of transmission poles needing to be repaired or replaced.
NIPSCO said the restoration effort suffered another setback Friday morning after a transmission equipment failure created additional outages in some areas.
Shatiya Hardin checks her refrigerator after power outages at her home in Gary, Indiana, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, more than a week after a deadly storm passed through the area. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
The long-duration outages and storm damage have also kept Gary-area schools closed for more than a week.
"The assessment of our buildings continues, and our team has begun addressing repairs and safety concerns in preparation for a safe return," the Gary Community School Corporation said in a statement Thursday.
Some relief is on the way for storm-weary communities. Cooler and less humid conditions are forecast to arrive Sunday, with high temperatures topping out in the 70s and several nights dipping into the upper 50s. That will be a noticeable change after muggy nights early in the outage.
The dry weather should also help crews working around the clock to repair the battered power grid.
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