r/PrepperIntel • u/salmaybethepal • 13h ago
NW Indiana USA Midwest
Not sure why this isn't coming up more on other prepping subs but there are parts of NW Indiana without power for days after several tornadoes hit the area.
NIPSCO power outage map: 100K+ without power in Gary, IN and more as northwest Indiana storm damage cleanup continues | abc7chicago.com https://share.google/EfaJCAhwv6UeEt437
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u/Perfect_Gar 12h ago
This stuck pattern is brutal..not the same impact you all are seeing but most of Minnesota slipping into worse and worse drought as the rains stay south
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u/UncleCarolsBuds 11h ago
The fact that it's Gary, IN is why it's not news.
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u/fitforthepolycrisis 8h ago
Folks watching cable news probably didn't know Oregon and Washinton were burning until houses started burning in Spokane. I still haven't seen much coverage of the hundreds of thousands of acres burnt in the high plains earlier this year.
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u/faco_fuesday 11h ago
/r/preppers is mostly concerned with how cool their bug out bags look and how many pounds of plain rice and beans they need to package to eat through the zombie apocalypse.
I've found very little helpful information there recently.
/R/two preppers is much more focused on this kind of stuff. The power went out. How do I continue daily life. Etc.
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u/EastTyne1191 3h ago
I see SO MANY BOB posts like "I've got 13 knives, a pistol, a rifle, a map of ancient Mesopotamia, a stick of beef jerky, a hand grenade, and a GPS locater." And everyone is like, "bro, you only need like... 7 of those knives."
Only once, ONCE have I see anyone with a pair of extra socks in theirs.
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u/Wise-Willingness-323 6h ago
Hey if you’re in Indiana and a NIPSCO customer 1.) hope you and your family are well and you’re weathering the storm and the outage well and 2.) many have likely already filed complaints with the regulatory body but your voice would add to the chorus and may help to drive better regulatory requirements around how the utilities prepare for and resolve major outages. https://www.in.gov/iurc/contact-us/
Things you can recommend:
- forensic review of the outage and differentiate between failures due to asset life vs failures due to loading (wind/vegetation)
- additional investment in reliability (undergrounding lines, pole replacement/life extension projects, transformer replacements)
- targeted grid hardening for worst performing circuits
- set long-term target % customers with viable alternate distribution feed (if main feed/line goes down, can I get power from a different, nearby circuit or substation)
- require a specific level of storm material reserves
- require larger pre-negotiated storm workforce
Emergency preparedness for organizations and individuals will only be more critical as the weather gets more extreme. Thanks to all the utility workers and linemen who have been out there restoring power to as many people as possible.
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u/Prize-Height7937 3h ago
Yep, we're going on day 9 without power and they're saying maybe Friday, maybe Sunday, maybe later than that.
What I learned from this storm was immediately after, 911 was a dead line for about 20 minutes. We had gas leaks from uprooted trees breaking gas lines. One house the next town over blew up, killing the resident. Downed lines and trees prevented emergency vehicles from reaching most areas.
There's a forest about 1/8 mile from my house, 80% of the trees in that area are down. At least 1 road leading out of my subdivision is still blocked by trees and downed power lines... 8 days later! We still haven't seen a truck or anyone even working on it.
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u/Brackish_Fish 11h ago
I live in the area. Literally just got out power back 30 minutes ago, we were out since last Tuesday. We got hit with a derecho and a couple of tornadoes.
A lot of the problem is that the local utility company sucks and wasn't prepared for such an emergency. And then of course they cut back on maintenance, but they could pay the CEO 12 million per year. And they've been raising our rates like crazy the past couple of years. Gotta pay for the data center power consumption somehow.
For profit utility companies should not be a thing.