Historic flooding across central and northern Indiana has killed at least six people and forced multiple cities to declare local disaster emergencies, as state and federal officials scramble to deliver aid to residents still without power days after storms first struck the region on Tuesday.
According to ABC7 Chicago, emergency officials have confirmed six deaths across Indiana tied to the storms, including three in the Chicago metropolitan area within Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties. The remaining deaths occurred elsewhere in the state. The storms brought what officials described as historic rainfall, causing several rivers to burst their banks and triggering widespread flooding that has overwhelmed emergency crews all week.
In central Indiana, the city of Fishers declared its own local disaster emergency on August 15, according to WTHR. Mayor Scott Fadness cited what he called unprecedented rainfall that pushed the White River, Fall Creek and other waterways to historic levels, leading to severe flooding throughout the city. The declaration will remain in effect until Saturday, August 22, city officials told WTHR.
To help residents cope, Fishers launched a 24-hour hotline, 317-595-3211, along with an online form for residents to request assistance with flood-related issues. The city said it will continue posting updates through its Facebook, Instagram, X and NextDoor accounts, as well as on its website. Officials also reminded residents not to drive around barricades or attempt to enter flooded areas, a warning that has become standard across flood-stricken communities in the state.
Fishers' declaration mirrors a broader emergency response playing out statewide. Indiana Governor Mike Braun declared a statewide disaster emergency on Friday, according to ABC7 Chicago. On Saturday, Braun said he spoke directly with President Donald Trump, who subsequently approved his request for a Presidential Emergency Declaration. That evening, FEMA announced that federal disaster assistance was being made available to Indiana to supplement state, tribal and local response efforts, citing emergency conditions from severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes and flooding.
The scale of the damage has been most visible in northwest Indiana, where utility crews have worked around the clock to restore power to tens of thousands of residents. Northern Indiana Public Service Company, or NIPSCO, temporarily paused some of its storm restoration work after a crew's vehicle was struck by gunfire early Saturday morning in Gary.
Gary Mayor Eddie Melton confirmed the shooting, saying no one was injured, and that police were investigating. According to Gary police, the incident happened around 1:30 a.m. Saturday in the 200 block of Rutledge Street, when two NIPSCO employees told officers their vehicle was hit twice by gunfire while they were surveying storm damage. Gary Police Chief Derrick Cannon said the vehicle involved was a small SUV rather than a typical utility truck, and that investigators were still working to determine whether the shooting was targeted or random. Video circulated on social media appeared to show at least two bullet holes in the vehicle, ABC7 Chicago reported.
NIPSCO said in a statement that it was working closely with law enforcement and that the safety of its employees, contractors and the communities it serves remained its highest priority. The company confirmed it paused storm restoration activities involving crews in Gary following what it called a serious incident, but said work in the area resumed Saturday evening after security measures were evaluated.
Mayor Melton condemned the shooting in strong terms. Let me be clear, this type of violence is absolutely unacceptable and will not be tolerated in the City of Gary, he said, according to ABC7 Chicago. He added that the crews are in Gary for one reason, to help residents and restore electricity to families who have already endured days without power. Melton said the city is coordinating with NIPSCO, the Gary Police Department, the Indiana State Police and state officials to ensure crews receive the protection they need to safely resume work. Indiana State Police is deploying additional troopers to assist local departments in the area.
Despite the resumption of repairs, frustration has mounted among Gary residents who have gone without electricity since Tuesday. Resident Kenneth Lewis told ABC7 Chicago that while the shooting was disgusting, restoring power to the area should have been treated as a priority regardless. Another resident, Steven Levy, said the pace of restoration felt inconsistent with the severity of outages in the area, noting that the county appeared to be number one in outages but last in service, which he said reflected the county's priorities.
The flooding and its aftermath have also disrupted planned public events across the region. This week's storms led organizers to cancel next weekend's Gary Air Show, citing the need for first responders to focus on cleanup rather than event security. Organizers told ABC7 Chicago they hope to bring the show back next summer. In Chicago, weather conditions forced a delay of the city's Air and Water Show on Saturday, and meteorologists warned that additional storms remained possible into Sunday, though an earlier AccuWeather Alert for heavy rainfall was later dropped as the flooding threat eased somewhat in the immediate Chicago area.
For now, the emergency response remains focused on two fronts: getting power back on for tens of thousands of Indiana residents and ensuring flood-hit communities like Fishers have the resources to recover before local disaster declarations expire later this month. With federal disaster assistance now approved and additional state troopers on the ground in Gary, officials say the priority is stabilizing utility restoration work while flood waters recede across the White River, Fall Creek and other central Indiana waterways that officials say reached historic levels this week.
