Thousands of residents recently spent two weeks without power in Gary, Indiana, following a storm that ripped through the majority-Black city. The blackout ground the city to a halt, trapping residents in their apartments, forcing the closure of many businesses and leading to fuel shortages at gas stations. Officials in Indiana estimate the storm might have caused up to $5 billion in damage in Gary and other communities.
“We’re still in the recovery phase, as we speak,” says Gary Mayor Eddie Melton, who underscores that “hardening the infrastructure” should be a priority for the NIPSCO utility company. “We’ve never seen wind this strong before. … They need to ensure that the utility grid system is going to sustain that type of wind.”
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.