MERRILLVILLE, Ind. () — A week after a tornado swept through Munster, thousands of residents were still waiting for the lights to come back on Tuesday.
“I think a few people may have gotten power back, but for the most part, it feels like nearly all of Munster is still without electricity,” resident Cynthia Bertagnolli told ABC7.
NIPSCO’s latest restoration estimate indicates that customers in Munster, including Bertagnolli, as well as additional customers in Highland, may not have power restored until next Tuesday — two full weeks after the severe storms hit Northwest Indiana.
“I don’t know if that’s acceptable,” Bertagnolli said, “but when you see what crews are up against, it’s a lot.”
At Dawn DeMario’s home, a utility crew from Jacksonville, Florida, pulled up while ABC7 was on scene. DeMario said it was the first crew she had seen in the area in several days.
“We still haven’t seen a single NIPSCO truck. It’s been these companies from out of state, and we’re incredibly thankful for them, but we haven’t seen anything from NIPSCO,” DeMario said.
Several residents said they recognize NIPSCO is responding to what the utility has described as the largest outage in its history. Still, many said they want clearer communication about which neighborhoods are being worked on and when crews are expected to arrive.
As of Tuesday morning, NIPSCO’s website showed roughly 93,000 customers remained without power, while service had been restored to about 269,000 customers.
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“We’re still working hard here in Gary and Hammond and a few other places to get that. We’re hoping by the end of the week we’ll have everybody back on,” said Vince Parisi, NIPSCO president and COO.
NIPSCO did not immediately answer ABC7’s questions about restoration efforts and the crews involved.
“We will get to everyone,” Parisi said. “We’re not going to leave any customer behind. I just believe that patience is important.”
Munster’s Jonathan Musto and his family have been finding air conditioning in their camper. They have been running on a borrowed generator and going across state lines to get fuel.
“We actually think it’s the first time in history people from Indiana were going to Illinois to get gas,” Musto said.
With a week to go before the estimated restoration date, people across Munster and Highland are waiting and trying to find ways to keep busy.
“My two boys moved out a couple years ago, so I’ve just been keeping busy. I’m like rearranging closets and putting things away,” Bertagnolli said.
It has been a week since Meloney Prentice has had electricity.
“It’s different,” Prentice said. “It’s different. We just have to do what we have to do to get by every day. We’re so used to having power.”
She’s one of the lucky ones in the Merrillville area who has a generator, but many here have been suffering in silence in the dark.
Thousands experiencing outages are relying on food giveaways. Tuesday afternoon at the Dean and Barbara White community center in Merrillville, NIPSCO, the city and others are serving 500 meals and other resources Tuesday.
“This is day seven for some of us who have still not had any power, any rescuing of the trees being picked up, but our town is a whole,” Merrillville Councilwoman Shauna Hayes said. “They have been doing everything they can getting the debris in the street picked up so our streets are open.”
Meanwhile, Maria Ojeda drove an hour and a half from her home in Hammond to bring her daughter some much-needed supplies.
“Today, I brought her water, distilled water, drinking water some other stuff, ice of course,” Ojeda said.
The situation is like that for thousands of people impacted by the severe storms.
Deborah Levels said the outage has been really tough on her daughter who heads off to attend college at Princeton University on Friday.
“She had a Zoom meeting for Princeton that she had to go find somewhere where she, it’ll be logged on for her Zoom meeting. It’s just been difficult being here seven days without any power,” Levels said.
Additionally, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has issued a disaster proclamation for areas impacted by last week’s storms. That declaration could help the state get federal assistance.
Storms possible Tuesday
There is a severe weather threat Tuesday night as recovery continues.
Spotty showers and isolated thunderstorms are possible through 7 p.m.
From 7 p.m. to midnight, there could be some strong thunderstorms or isolated severe storms. The main concerns are high winds and heavy rain.
From midnight to 3 a.m., lingering showers and isolated thunderstorms are possible.
The area is under a Level 1 risk of severe weather Tuesday. Southern Wisconsin is under a Level 2 risk.
