Recovery begins for people in Gary, surrounding areas one week after power is restored to most homes
GARY, Ind. — It's been one week since most people in Gary and the surrounding areas had their power restored. They stressed that things aren't okay just because the power is back on. For the Hoosiers impacted by the storms in August, this is just the beginning of a long road of recovery.
Last month's deadly derecho, packing nearly 100 mile an hour winds, left the entire city in the dark.
"Either they're in this limbo status or they're denied."
Limbo: An uncertain period of awaiting a decision or resolution.
That is where Dominique Mack says she and her family of six are stuck after applying for FEMA aid.
"It was a fairly easy application, but there was no correspondence afterwards. No follow up, not even like, you know how you apply for something they give you like a follow up email like 'thanks for applying. We got your application will be in touch,' it was really.. Nothing," shared Mack.
Dominique filed for FEMA aid on August 26. A week later, she's still waiting on FEMA to complete their inspection in hopes of getting "something. I would love to get something like even if it’s just maybe a couple hundred dollars to replace some food or to replace the toll money or some gas, anything."
Mack described having to feed and care for her newborn baby, who is just shy of two months old, in the dark with nothing but candlelight to see. However, the money troubles don't stop there.
Gary residents went from feeling powerless to feeling the cost of power. After a two-week blackout, we checked back in with Lisa Bobbitt. In our story on August 21, we showed you she has a defibrillator implant and now, she has her NIPSCO bill.
"I opened my bill, the total amount due $1433.88. The current charge when I didn’t have lights is $438.00," said Bobbitt as she showed ABC57 her bill.
She acknowledges that she had a prior balance to pay down but is confused as to how she's left with this balance.
"I called and said I didn't have power from August 11 to the 26th or the 25th, what am I being charged for? I said break it down, explain to me. At first, she got hostile and said 'you're billed from July 20 to August 21.' Then I started to look, how much are you charging each day? They told me I was on a budget so I had to pay the balance no matter what. I asked who put me on a budget? I never asked to be on a budget."
We asked NIPSCO if Hoosiers affected by the storms will be charged for the 14 days without power. Below is their response:
"Customers will not be charged for energy use while they were out of service. However, there are some recurring charges unrelated to energy usage that will appear on the customer bills."
Lisa tells us she feels like the City, Red Cross, and FEMA haven't helped at all.
"Look at the water still down here, my daughter has lost everything," Bobbitt shared as she walked to the basement, showing the damaged items and water that still fills her basement.
Right now, Lisa only has one request and that is for a dumpster because this is her reality, which sometimes can be hard to see through eyes full of tears.
“This is the real reality. Take a look at my basement; my basement has never looked like this before. My yard has never looked like this, my house! Look at my house. What do I do? Somebody tell me what do I do?"
A neighbor shared they could hear Lisa fighting through tears as she talked about the damage to her home. She has a daughter in Arizona and says she's told her that she's ready to come down there. She says she's also told the Lord that she's tired and ready to go because she doesn't know how much more she can handle.
The deadline to apply for FEMA’s individual assistance is October 25. Hoosiers can apply online by clicking here or by calling 1-800-621-3362.
One-stop shops and mobile registration intake centers are open throughout the state for Hoosiers to apply for state and federal assistance programs and seek additional resources. For more information, visit the resource hub at on.in.gov/August2026Disaster, or call Indiana 211 (866-211-9966).
The U.S. Small Business Administration has also made low interest disaster loans available for Indiana businesses, private nonprofit organizations and residents affected by severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes and flooding beginning Aug. 11.