Nearly a week after a tornado tore through parts of Merrillville, Indiana, Earline Walker is still dealing with the fallout as more storms were predicted for later Wednesday.
“Our roof had big, large holes due to trees or limbs flying onto the property,” the 63-year-old Walker said Wednesday morning of the storm that hit last Thursday evening in this community about an hour south of Downtown Chicago.
While power was restored for much of the town by Monday evening, Walker’s home still doesn’t have any.
But that’s the least of her concerns. She’s more worried about strong storms and possible tornadoes predicted by the National Weather Service for Wednesday evening.
“I’m praying. I believe in God and that it’s all going to work out. I am hoping that it bypasses us,” Walker said at a Salvation Army food distribution site in Merrillville.
The weather service confirmed that the EF-2 tornado that hit parts of the town last Thursday was one of 20 to strike parts of the Chicago area and other towns in Northwest Indiana, from Bartlett, Illinois, to near Valparaiso, Indiana.
Hundreds of trees in Merrillville were either uprooted or had limbs broken off on the town’s northern end near Gary, cutting an east-west path that saw two schools and dozens of businesses sustaining damage. As many as 200 buildings, including homes, sustained damage, according to Merrillville officials.
The storm knocked out power to more than 86,000 customers of Northern Indiana Public Service Co. As of Wednesday, NIPSCO reported power had been restored to most of its customers. But about 1,000 customers were still without power.
Walker’s husband and son helped to patch her home’s roof with leftover shingles from an earlier roof replacement project.
Walker said she never thought a storm of that strength would ever hit her home.
“We survived it. I’m grateful to God. If it had not been for God, I don’t believe we would have survived the way we did,” said Walker, who has lived in Merrillville for 13 years. “I am sorry for other people, the residents that lost their homes entirely. They might be homeless now and I’m very sad about that.”
For nearly a week, members of the Salvation Army of Northwest Indiana have been distributing food, cleaning supplies and clothing to nearly 400 affected residents of Merrillville.
“We’re helping the volunteers as well as helping to clean up the area,” said Jim Prichard, auxiliary captain for the Gary office of the Salvation Army. “We’re out here serving lunches, water, snacks, whatever they may need, and pointing them in the right direction wherever we can to assist the residents.”
Prichard said the people who access services seem to have been staggered by the storm.
“They are very overwhelmed. They’re lost and they just need reassurance that there are people out there to help,” Prichard said.
Carli Murkve works for the Salvation Army. Despite her own home’s basement being flooded in southern Porter County, Murkve said she wanted to be in Merrillville to help out.
“This has been the most devastating that I have seen in Northwest Indiana,” Murkve said. “I’d rather help somebody else. I can take care of my concerns when I get home, but I’m here to serve the people right now that need the most help and doing the most good here.”
Another group of volunteers with the Los Angeles-based Team Rubicon have been assisting those impacted with disaster cleanup at no cost to homeowners. The Lake County, Indiana, Emergency Management Agency invited Team Rubicon to assist homeowners.
“We’re running chainsaws and mucking out houses. We’ve already been in contact with about 25 to 30 homeowners that we’re either already starting to help or will be helping shortly,” said Maureen Kerrigan of Team Rubicon. “Every homeowner after a big disaster does feel lost. One of our high points is that we give them hope. We give them a place to start.”
Even as cleanup continues, many businesses and government offices closed early on Wednesday due to the oncoming storm.
Michael Puente is a reporter and weekend anchor with WBEZ.