Joyful hoots echoed from homes on the west side of the 3600 block of Monroe Street in Gary's Glen Park neighborhood at 7:15 p.m. Sunday as lights blinked on after four days of darkness.
Standing in the alley behind his home, James Hardrick advised people not to drive behind the garbage truck after it visits Monroe Street this week. The truck will carry eggs, milk and meat left unrefrigerated since Wednesday night's brutal thunderstorm.
"He's going to have a whole lot of stinky food," Hardrick said.
About 4,300 Northwest Indiana homes and businesses still had no power at 8 p.m. Sunday night, said NIPSCO spokesman Larry Graham. NIPSCO officials hope to restore all power by tonight, Graham said, but he also warned that the predicted "heavy rains or additional storms could delay restoration."
Indeed, Northwest Indiana and Chicago's south suburbs could absorb heavy rains all week, said Chris Gitro, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Romeoville, Ill., office. While this week's rainstorms should lack the fury of Wednesday night's storm, Gitro on Sunday night predicted "heavy rains and possible flooding."
"It's going to be a wet week across the board," Gitro said.
No local municipality reported major flooding from rains that continued Sunday night. Highland Public Works Director John Bach had heard no reports of flooding Sunday night, he said. A Crown Point police dispatcher said he had received no reports of flooded roads or streets.
The Kankakee River wasn't threatening Sunday to surge over its banks, said Jody Melton, director of the Kankakee River Basin Commission. The river ran low before Wednesday's storm, and water only crested some exposed sandbars after last week's rains. The river isn't near flooding, but heavy rains could push the river over its banks, he said.
"If it rains all week, it could get exciting," he said.
Gitro called this August "one of the wettest Augusts we've had on record" in Chicago. Chicago's O'Hare International Airport has taken 5.18 inches of rain this month, almost double the average amount, he said. Gitro had no rainfall figures for Northwest Indiana.
Before power flickered back on Sunday night on Monroe Street's west side, Rufus L. Smith chuckled philosophically about his losses. Smith's four giant Koi fish survived for three days without the electric devices in their 55-gallon indoor tank before they bellied up. Too big to flush down any toilet, the Koi rested Sunday night in Smith's garbage with food from his fridge and freezer. NIPSCO should "update" its power systems in Glen Park if it can be updated, Smith said.
"It's very inconvenient," he said.
