Gary residents turn to prayer as power outage stretches into third week
Residents of Gary, Indiana, are facing a third week without power following severe storms, leading to community frustration with the utility provider, NIPSCO. Local leaders and clergy are calling for better infrastructure maintenance and transparency.
Why it matters
The prolonged outage highlights vulnerabilities in regional power grids and the social impact of infrastructure failure on local communities.
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Barb Anguiano / WFYI Members of the Tree of Life Missionary Baptist Church surround Gary Mayor Eddie Melton during a service at the church in Gary, Monday, Aug. 24, 2026, GARY — Nearly 5,000 Northwest Indiana residences were preparing to enter their third week without electricity following severe storms that left widespread outages Aug. 11.
Inside the Tree of Life Missionary Baptist Church, members of the congregation surrounded Mayor Eddie Melton at the pulpit Monday night, laying hands on him and raising their arms in prayer. Pastors and city officials addressed the room full of residents still living without power.
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