Kevin Cornett, who lives in the 400 block of Northview Drive on Valparaiso’s north side, saw a hopeful sign on his block Thursday — NIPSCO crews working on a power line taken out by a tree during Sunday’s severe storm.
Cornett, with tens of thousands of other people, lost power when 83 mph winds and heavy rain swept through Valparaiso, knocking down trees and power lines, damaging homes and businesses, and leaving thousands of people in the dark.
The utility told Cornett Thursday that they expected to have his power back up sometime that day.
“I was lucky — I had a generator,” he said, adding he almost sold it over the summer because he never used it and waited until Tuesday to hook it up because he remained hopeful the power would be restored.
“I’ve never been without power for more than a few hours but this time there were a lot of damaged trees,” he said, adding that could be because many of the city’s trees are 60-some years old, on private property and overdue for trimming.
While NIPSCO crews were working to restore power, a team from the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, along with representatives from the Porter County Emergency Management Agency, were doing damage assessment as part of the process to determine if financial assistance, like low-interest loans, might be available for folks hit by the storm.
“We started looking at the damage as early as Sunday night,” said Lance Bella, director of PCEMA.
By Monday morning, the agency had set up a 211 phone and email line for people to report storm damage.
“I think that’s helped,” Bella said during a briefing with representatives from IDHS and PCEMA before they fanned out to check the damage, assisted by a GIS map created by the county to show where the storm hit hardest.
After a tornado came through Valparaiso on July 15 and downed trees and damaged power lines, part of a strong system that included another tornado and derecho winds, the county also took damage reports on 211 and brought in IDHS for damage assessment assistance.
That time, Bella said, PCEMA documented 20 places damaged by the storm and the 211 line generated another 19. IDHS came to do assessments then, too, to determine if the damage qualified for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency or the Small Business Administration.
“It doesn’t mean they’re going to get reimbursed. They may get low-interest loans for a house or business to fix the damage,” Bella said, adding SBA assistance is easier to receive.
Porter County Regional Airport reported 83 mph winds on Sunday, he said. One person died at Pratt Industries when a tractor-trailer blew over on him.
PCEMA documented 55 instances of storm damage from Sunday and another 21 people reached out through 911, Bella said, adding there was little if any duplication between the two lists.
“I think it was dependent on, was it (in the) open? Could the wind get to it?” he said during a drive through Valparaiso and to U.S. 6 to look at damage spots.
Along Campbell Street, Calumet Avenue and just north of downtown, some places still had downed trees and power lines with them. Homes had tarps on the roofs, trees leaned precariously on houses and some roads were still blocked.
Utility trucks also were out and about as workers tried to repair power lines and utility poles and restore power to the customers who were still in the dark.
NIPSCO reported around 12 p.m. Thursday that about 860 remaining customers impacted by Sunday’s storm still were without power. The majority of those outages were in Valparaiso, according to the utility’s outage map.
“Sunday’s storm impacting northern Indiana resulted in approximately 45,000 electric customer outages across NIPSCO’s service area. Damages ranged from broken poles and cross arms and downed trees and power lines. This included approximately 180 broken or damaged poles, which is a significant impact on our system,” NIPSCO spokesperson Jessica Cantarelli said in an email to the Post-Tribune.
By 11 a.m. Monday, about 60% of affected customers were restored, she said, adding the remaining customers who faced multi-day outages were in communities with high impact from the storm, including around 10,700 customers in Valparaiso.
As of 2 p.m. Thursday, that number was about 730 customers, she said.
“While each storm is different, NIPSCO tracks developing weather patterns and prepares accordingly to respond to outages. All available resources have been working since Sunday to assess damage and make the necessary repairs to restore service as safely and quickly as possible,” she said in the email.
Severe weather Wednesday night, the utility said on a social media post, extended some of the previously estimated restoration times. About 1,800 customers were left without power after Wednesday night’s storm, mostly in the utility’s eastern region.
That, Cantarelli said in her email, further hampered restoration efforts from Sunday’s storm. By 2 p.m. Thursday, around 880 customers were still without power from Wednesday’s storm.
“We understand the significance of a multi-day outage to our customers, and how that impacts daily life,” Cantarelli said. “We thank our customers for their patience and understanding as all available resources continue to work to restore service to each and every customer as safely and quickly as possible.”
Estimated restoration times by community are available at NIPSCO.com/Out.
alavalley@chicagotribune.com
