MERRILLVILLE — Southlake Mall has seen a resurgence this past week as hundreds of residents without electrical power have flocked there to cool off, eat at the food court and charge phones and laptops.
More than 60% of NIPSCO customers were without power at the worst point following this past week’s storms that started Tuesday in northwest Indiana. The utility described it as “one of the most significant outage events in company history.” As of midday Saturday, approximately 158,000 customers remained without power, while 163,000 had power restored since initially losing it.
Brandi and David Murray heard about the Merrillville mall’s invitation to the public to use its power and on Friday brought four computers, four phones and two battery power banks. Earlier in the week, they were home in Gary with their two children when high winds blew trees into power lines and onto their house and chicken coop.
“I was huddled on the bed with the kids and there were these strong winds over the house and the sky turned green, then black, then the trees fell,” Brandi Murray said. “It all happened in about 45 seconds. There was no time to even think about going to the basement.”
When the storm passed, they went out to get gas for their car and waited 45 minutes at a Shell station by Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana, which had a generator and was open. Looking back, Brandi Murray says she should have bought some emergency candles that night but didn’t think the outage would continue for days. She’s down to one candle and stores are sold out.
Akbar Abdullah wasn’t prepared for the extended power outage at his home not far from the mall. On Friday afternoon, he was sitting on the floor scrolling on his phone, which was plugged into a nearby socket. Buying a generator, he said, might be a good idea.
Jesse Luttinen, KC Huffman, Lisa Luttinen and Scott Caldwell share a house in Merrillville. Friday afternoon, they sat together outside the mall where they had bought two lithium battery-powered fans. Their house is too hot during the day, so they’ve been seeking out places with air conditioning.
“We’ve been out every day, to the mall, Walmart, all around,” Lisa Luttinen said. “We call NIPSO, and they say they can’t say when the power might come back on. They said they were in Hobart clearing the mess there.”
Gary resident David Murray said someone from NIPSCO told him power might not be restored to his area until Tuesday, Aug. 18.
In Hobart on Friday, debris and giant tree limbs were piled along the streets, awaiting pickup. Thirty National Guard members were sent there to help with the clean-up. Chainsaws whirred and generators hummed. Almost no one had power. Stoplights along U.S. 30 and Merrillville’s commercial district were still out. Businesses with backup power sources were open.
To see updated information on the northwest Indiana power outages, visit NIPSCO’s website.
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FPI News reporter Laura Lane covers the people and issues of rural Indiana. Reach her at 812-760-1540 or laura.lane@fpinews.org.
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