Four days after tornadoes ripped through Illinois and northwest Indiana, a new wave of volunteers was preparing to assist with cleanup in one of the hardest hit areas on Monday.
Cleanup was underway throughout the town of Merrillville, Indiana, after an EF-2 tornado tore through late last week. More than 5,700 people remained without electricity as NIPSCO crews continued restoration efforts. Power wasn’t expected to be fully restored until Wednesday night.
At least 17 tornadoes and counting touched down during Thursday’s severe weather outbreak in the Chicago area, with confirmed tornadoes spanning the suburbs, northwest Indiana and even near Chicago.
In Merrillville, one resident who chose not to show her face on camera, was working with her neighbors to find a way forward. Amid power outages, some were finding alternative ways to keep the lights on.
“There’s a lot of folks that have home generators,” the resident said. “Luckily our neighbor was kind enough to pass the cord, now just want to keep pumps running.”
Volunteers from Team Rubicon, a veteran-led nonprofit humanitarian organization, were stepping in to help those affected.
“We started today, I had three teams in the field talking to homeowners, getting permission to be on property,” one volunteer said. “Starting at 7:30 tomorrow morning, I’ll have three teams in the field with chainsaws, so people can get back in driveways, houses, get back into their properties.”
The organization arrived in Merrillville with their volunteers known as “greyshirts.”
“We never charge a homeowner for their services,” said Maureen Kerrigan, incident commander of Team Rubicon. “We are completely free, donor driven.”
The group has been working with county managers, as well as the town of Merrillville.
“We do the work,” Kerrigan said. “We’re running the chainsaws, trees off houses and cars, opening driveways. Tarps if they get flooded.”
Volunteers have arrived from all over the region, from Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Kentucky and even one from Florida.
“We’ve made contact with a lot of people, they’re thrilled,” Kerrigan said. “All we’re tying to do is give hope and a place to start.”
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