Gary, Indiana is in its second week without power.
Mayor Eddie Melton has been calling for more information from its primary electric utility provider NIPSCO. He says without it, concerns increase and people circulate misinformation.
WFYI's Barb Anguiano spoke with Melton about his conversations with NIPSCO. They also talked about how Gary residents are managing in the aftermath of last week’s storms.
For anyone in need of help navigating power outages, flood damage, fallen trees or in need of shelter, dial 211 for assistance.
NIPSCO currently estimates Gary residents will have power fully restored by August 25.
This transcript has been edited for style and clarity.
Barb Anguiano: Thank you so much for joining me today. I want to start by getting a lay of the land and get an official record on what things are like right now for Gary residents.
Mayor Eddie Melton: Right now, I think it's extremely frustrating and hard for most of our residents that are still without power, been over nine days, 10 days, where many are families and individuals that have health conditions, senior citizens, and folks that are seeking answers.
And luckily, yesterday we just started getting more specifics. I had to demand that NIPSCO provide more accurate restoration times specifically for Gary because the information that was shared was omitting Gary.
So it caused a lot of confusion, a lot of frustration to residents on why we did not power, why we weren't included in the information that was distributed by the company publicly.
So now that that information has been shared, it does give us some light at the end of the tunnel.
Anguiano: Was there anything you were surprised to learn after you started having conversations with NIPSCO?
Melton: I didn't realize that so many transmission lines, which carry the load of electricity that gets to these neighborhoods, were destroyed.
Essentially, they're rebuilding the system in a matter of days and a couple of weeks, which is extremely difficult. I mean, this wasn't a tornado. This was a straight line wind that ripped through an entire region. So Gary is not the only city – I know that. But we were the hardest hit.
That as the mayor, I had to advocate for my city, and I've been working in communication with the other mayors. We are now having more frequent calls with NIPSCO to get real-time data and information and ask our questions.
That wasn't the case a week or two ago, but now that we've put that demand before them, they're honoring that just to keep us in the loop so we can communicate to our constituents more clearly.
Anguiano: What has the state response been like?
Melton: We're grateful that the emergency declaration was done by the governor. We know that he has appropriated funding to help Indiana residents, so we're pushing people to dial 211 so they can get access to those resources and file those claims.
So we're grateful for that piece of it. We've been in communication with his office, looking to send more help when it comes down to getting trees or homes, clearing up some of the damage.
So we need more bodies. We need more manpower. Gary's 52 square-miles. That's a lot of land to cover when it comes down to the type of destruction that took place. Almost every single neighborhood is impacted. [There’s] not one neighborhood that you can point to where there aren't downed trees and debris from the storm.
Anguiano: As it unfortunately tends to be the case with natural disasters or mass chaos events, misinformation spreads quickly, especially through social media. Is there anything you've heard or seen that you'd like to address?
Melton: Yeah, I think there was a concern that restoration was to go to September 12, and that was completely inaccurate.
That was something that came out last week, and that caused a frenzy among residents. And that only happened because NIPSCO was not providing that information specific to the city of Gary and certain other communities.
So we [now] got to fill that void with more intentional, accurate information.
Anguiano: Finally, what is your message to the residents of Gary?
Melton: Continue to be strong. Gary has always been a resilient, strong city, and nothing has changed in us and who we are. This storm is going to pass us by.
We have to look out for our neighbors and look out for one another. And as mayor, I've committed to everything as possible to bring the resources, continue to advocate on behalf of us to get power restored, and make sure that we clean up and get back to normal.
Anguiano: Thank you so much for joining me today.
Melton: Thank you so much. I appreciate it.
Contact WFYI Morning Edition newscaster and reporter Barb Anguiano at banguiano@wfyi.org
