Indiana residents endure ninth day without electricity as Ohio faces flash floods

Tens of thousands of residents in northwest Indiana remained without electricity for a ninth consecutive day on Thursday following a deadly storm that struck the region on August 11.

In Gary, residents have been forced to throw away spoiled food, search for places to charge their phones and line up for hot meals. Schools also remained closed, while community members used social media to locate laundromats, Wi-Fi and essential supplies.

Northern Indiana Public Service Co. said about 68,000 customers were still without power Thursday morning, mainly in Lake County near the Illinois border. The company said it had restored electricity to more than 306,500 customers since the storm, but some areas, including Gary, were not expected to have full power restored until Tuesday.

The prolonged outage has raised health concerns, including carbon monoxide poisoning from poorly ventilated generators, risks to people who depend on medical equipment and illnesses caused by spoiled refrigerated food.

Meanwhile, heavy rainfall in central Ohio caused flash flooding in Columbus. Emergency crews rescued motorists trapped in flooded vehicles and saved a 12-year-old boy who was swept from a bridge.

Residents in affected Indiana communities said they were becoming increasingly exhausted and frustrated after more than a week without reliable electricity, with many struggling to replace spoiled food and support elderly and low-income neighbors.

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