Aug 7, 2008 9:43 am US/Central
20,000 Still Without Power In Northwest Indiana
Most Outages In Lake County, Where Tornado Struck Monday Night
GRIFFITH, Ind. (STNG) ―
Twenty thousand Northwest Indiana residents and businesses remained without power late Wednesday, two days after a tornado and severe thunderstorms slammed the region, snapping trees, destroying homes and leaving one motorist dead.
Most of the outages are in Lake County, with Griffith, Gary, Munster, Merrillville, Hammond, Highland and Hobart the focus of much of NIPSCO's efforts.
Due to the severity of the outages, NIPSCO said the restoration of power could extend into Saturday.
Power has been restored for nearly 43,000 customers.
The storm also resulted in one death when a large tree branch fell on a moving car, killing Timothy Decker, 23, of Michigan City, who died of head and chest injuries.
An F2 tornado touched down in Griffith, where homes and business bore the brunt of the damage Monday night, but areas throughout the region suffered significant damage as well.
The area of Silver Court, off Ross Road in unincorporated Calumet Township adjacent to Griffith, also saw major damage, including snapped trees, uprooted gas lines and damaged homes and vehicles.
"Our primary focus is to clear roads first where trees are in roadways," said Lake County Public Works Director Bill Henderson, adding that county crews were working overtime to get the job done.
Munster city officials issued a boil water advisory, a precautionary measure that could be lifted by tonight, Town Manager John DeGuilio said. He said the town's water had tested safe, but that due to power outages, pressure had dropped below 20 pounds -- the threshold for a boil advisory.
"People can still use their water for bathing and everything else, but we advise them to boil it before drinking or cooking," DeGuilio said.
Recovery efforts continued throughout Lake County as workers spent Wednesday cleaning up fallen trees and debris in several towns -- work that officials say likely will continue into next week.
The Lake County Salvation Army distributed 580 bottles of water, 135 meals, assisting 450 emergency workers and victims Tuesday, according to spokesman Maj. Robert Buttrey.
Highland's Public Works Director John Bach said the town was getting help from Dyer, St. John and private contractors to clean up nearly 400 fallen trees and branches, downed in the storm's path through the Wicker Park area, extending north and south down Grand Boulevard across Liable Road, Sandalwood subdivision across Cline Avenue into Griffith.
Merrillville Public Works Director Bruce Spires said the town sustained "very minimal tree damage and some flooded basements."
"We were fortunate," Spires said.
Mike Frank, Hobart's emergency management director for Homeland Security, said the city spent Wednesday doing damage assessment.
The storm took a diagonal path northeast across the city, destroying at least one home and damaging others.
Dyer saw a lot of power outages and flooded basements on the north side of town near Northgate subdivision.
"NIPSCO's talking Friday about restoring power," said John O'Loughlin, Street Department foreman.
Floodwaters that closed streets when 51â�"2 inches of rain pounded Crown Point had all receded and crews spent Wednesday removing barriers.
"We have no idea how many basements flooded, Street Superintendent Bill Unwin said. The street department alone fielded 50 calls from homeowners. "We're lucky we didn't get the same damage as other towns," Unwin said.
Residents with damage should contact Lake County Emergency Management at (219) 755-3549.
(Source: Sun-Times News Group Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2006. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Get More From cbs2chicago.com
