Groups descend on northwest Indiana to help with storm cleanup

LAKE COUNTY, Ind. -- The Lake County EMA says most of the roads are on the clearer side tonight thanks to the Indiana National Guard being deployed to this area.

But there is of course still more work to be done.

Cleanup efforts are continuing in Lake County with almost 40% of the county still in the dark as of this evening.

Organizations from around the country have descended upon the area to help with food assistance and cleanup.

Maureen Kerrigan, a Chicago native, and Incident Commander for Team Rubicon says how it feels to lend a hand to a neighboring community:

“It makes me feel great. I know people that live in this area, so coming back and being able to help people that I know is fantastic. And the people here in Merrillville have been extremely welcoming. They were very welcoming when we were here two months ago, and as soon as they had the problem, they were very happy to have us come back.”

Of course it isn’t just cleanup from the recent derecho, but if you’ll remember, some of the community is still struggling from tornado damage from the middle of June.

For some of these volunteers, this is the second time in two months that they have helped with cleanup efforts.

"We're going to be running about a 30-person operation, so we should have about 30 volunteers every day. We are flying volunteers in from all over the country to come and help people in this area."

While the Indiana National Guard is almost wrapped up cleaning the roads across Northwest Indiana, Team Rubicon helps homeowners with debris in their yards.

"So, we provide several services at no cost to the homeowner. We are heavily chainsaw operated to cut up the trees that have been knocked over and bring the debris to the roadway."

Other non-profits have been providing food while the power's been out for tens of thousands.

Over the past week 'Operation BBQ Relief' has set up in Walmart parking lots in the area, handing out over 13,000 meals this past week.

"Most of the volunteers that are here are local. We do have a couple that are about 9 or 12 hours away that came in to help."

Joe Wilson’s family runs a barbecue restaurant in Fort Wayne, and has been helping Operation BBQ Relief since 2016.

"We saw a Facebook message one day, and you know, we love we love barbecue, and we love helping people, and we finally found something that fits both those."

Operation BBQ tells me as power returns here, they plan to help people in central Indiana too... as they deal with extreme flooding.

NIPSCO says they're optimistic that most residents in the area will have the lights on by Wednesday night.