Statement About the August 11th Storm

Before we begin tonight’s meeting, I would like to take a moment to recognize the extraordinary weather event that affected Merrillville and communities throughout Northwest Indiana on August 11.

What we experienced was not simply a severe thunderstorm. The National Weather Service describes a derecho (deh-rey-cho) as a widespread, long-lived windstorm associated with a fast-moving line of severe thunderstorms. It is sometimes referred to as an “inland hurricane” because of the tremendous area it can affect and the destructive winds it can produce.

A derecho can produce straight-line wind gusts of 58 miles per hour or greater, with some storms producing winds well over 100 miles per hour, across a path that can extend for hundreds of miles.

That description certainly helps put the August 11 event into perspective.

Here in our community, we witnessed the consequences firsthand — widespread power outages, downed trees and utility lines, significant property damage, blocked roadways, flooding and tremendous disruption to our residents, businesses and families.

Many people went without electricity for an extended period of time. Our emergency responders, public works crews, utility workers, tree crews and countless volunteers worked around the clock to help our community recover.

I want to express my sincere appreciation to everyone who played a role in that response.

Our police officers, firefighters, public works employees, emergency management personnel, utility crews and other first responders were out there doing what they do best – serving our residents under extremely difficult circumstances.

I also want to recognize the many residents who checked on neighbors, helped clear debris, assisted family members and friends, and simply stepped up when their community needed them.

Events like this remind us that while we cannot control the weather, we can control how we respond to it.

The August 11 storm was a powerful reminder of the importance of preparedness, communication and having the resources necessary to respond when a major emergency strikes.

It also demonstrated the strength and resilience of the people who call Merrillville home.

Recovery does not end when the winds stop or when the power comes back on. For many families, businesses and property owners, the cleanup and restoration process continues.

So tonight, as we conduct the business of the Town, I want us to keep those residents in mind. Our responsibility is not only to govern during ordinary times, but to be prepared to lead, respond and support our community when extraordinary circumstances occur.

Merrillville has always been a strong community, and the response to this event demonstrated that strength once again.

Was it perfect? Of course not. How could it be under these extreme circumstances?

But what I saw was people stepping up, working together and doing the very best they could with an unprecedented situation.

I also want to thank my fellow Town Council members.

Our text chain, along with the communication we maintained with our department heads, helped keep all of us informed about what was happening, where it was happening and what was coming next.

That allowed each of us to better serve our constituents by sharing information about what was happening throughout the various districts of Merrillville.

And I was particularly impressed by how each of you offered genuine ideas about what we could do to help our residents during what was, for many of us, a first-of-its-kind weather event.

Thank you for the teamwork.

But, of course, we’re not done.

Of course, we still have cleanup efforts underway.

Of course, some residents and businesses are still waiting for power to be restored.

Of course, there is curbside restoration work that needs to be completed.

Of course, power restoration has been frustratingly slow for many of our residents.

And, of course, we understand that frustration.

During the event, every member of this Council lost power. Slowly, some of us got our power back. Others waited longer. And even today, there are residents who are still waiting for their lives to return to something resembling normal.

Of course, we understand how frustrating that is.

But there is something else that makes this storm particularly difficult.

As the August 11 event hit Merrillville, we were still completing cleanup and recovery efforts from the June 11 tornadoes.

Some of our residents had just begun rebuilding their homes, repairing their businesses and putting their lives back together.

And then another devastating storm arrived.

Of course, we feel for those homeowners and businesses who had already endured the June 11 tornadoes and were just beginning their recovery when August 11 happened.

That is a tremendous amount for anyone to have to endure in such a short period of time.

Of course, we will also take the time to look back at how we responded.

We will gather to learn what worked, what could have been better and what we can do differently in the future.

We had the opportunity to witness firsthand how important our disaster plan and our communication systems are. And while I believe our preparation served us well, we can always improve — and we will learn from both of these recent storms.

Most importantly, I want to thank our residents for their patience, their understanding and their grace as all of the agencies involved — including NIPSCO — have worked to get our community back to normal.

We understand that losing power, dealing with storm damage and watching the recovery process unfold is frustrating.

But we also understand that this is not part of anyone’s normal daily routine.

These were extraordinary events, and we are dealing with the extraordinary circumstances that followed them.

We hope events of this magnitude remain rare.

But if there is one thing these storms have shown us, it is that when Merrillville faces adversity, we face it together.

And that, more than anything, is something we should be proud of.

Thank you.

-Rick Bella, Town Council President