Michiana counties continue storm cleanup efforts with federal help on the way

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — On Tuesday, August 11th, parts of the Hoosier state were rocked with a powerful derecho, doing extensive damage to homes and businesses, while knocking out power for more than 60% of NIPSCO’S electric customers, causing unprecedented damage across NIPSCO’S electric system, and one of the largest outages in the company's history.

Flooding in Michiana's southern counties like Pulaski County, that received over twelve inches of rain since Monday, led businesses to evacuate and many almost submerged underwater like this Chrysler dealership.

This led county officials, like Pulaski County Sheriff Chris Schramm, to urge folks to stay inside.

"Especially if they hear the sirens going off, just stay home, get to a place of safety, don't be out driving in it, I made the mistake of leaving yesterday at 14 and 39, and I shouldn't have, I didn't expect the rain to be that heavy, so I was nervous when I hit that heavy rain."

But relief came quick, especially in cities like La Porte, where organizations such as the YMCA opened their doors to aid residents who lost power and didn’t have running water.

This became a saving grace for many La Porte residents, like Chris Becherer, who needed a place where he and his son can stay during the day.

“It means everything," Becherer said. "It's the littlest thing until you realize the littlest things matter. Everything helps.”

While residents were seeking resources that they lost because of the storms, crews were working around the clock to clean up the damage and restore power.

An update from NIPSCO at noon on Sunday, announcing that they have restored power to 193,000 customers since the start of the event, with 128,000 customers still without power.