On Monday, August 31, 2026, Beyoncé’s BeyGOOD Foundation donated $200,000 to residents of Gary, Indiana, who were left without power and basic resources for two weeks after severe storms and historic winds ripped through the area.
“The funds will go to City Life Center and Angel by Nature, [who are] on the ground aiding communities most affected following the record flooding caused by a derecho storm that destroyed infrastructure, leaving more than 1000 people unhoused,” the foundation explained in a social media post. “The fund will immediately support critical relief and recovery efforts in the neediest areas, including the city of Gary, providing food, household supplies, and other essential resources to individuals and families impacted by the flooding.”
On August 11, a derecho, a violent storm that can generate tornado-like winds, ripped through parts of northwest Indiana and other parts of the Midwest with winds up to 100mph. In addition to the storm, a twister that touched down in Illinois also made its way into parts of Indiana. As a result, hundreds of thousands of people, particularly those in predominantly Black areas, were left without power for days and, in many cases, weeks. Many took issue with how long it took the Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) to restore power to the Gary area, including Mayor Eddie Melton.
“When the city, when the state, when the company announced its restoration, did it mention — was Gary even included in the schedule?” Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman asked Melton.
“That was where the initial outcry from us started,” the Gary mayor replied. “When we did not see Gary listed in the beginning, it was a — it felt as if we were being left behind and overlooked. So, we pressed, and we called before the public. We told them to come before the public to do a press conference to articulate what was the problem, how long it was going to take for restoration, and to start listing Gary separately from other cities, so we can have an accurate account. We can track it from a transparency perspective.”
After more than two weeks, NIPSCO said its restoration efforts were “substantially complete.” As of August 26, NBC reported that “just over 100” customers in the city of 69,000 were still experiencing outages.
“Storm restoration efforts related to the Aug. 11 storm and subsequent weather events are substantially complete,” the company stated. “While crews continue working through a limited number of individual outage cases, restoration activities have concluded across the broader service territory.”
In the aftermath, Melton says the city of Gary is partnering with the state to provide aid to its residents. The city is also working with the Legacy Foundation to collect donations for a fund to help residents repair their weatherheads. Long-term, Melton and the city of Gary will continue to raise questions about NIPSCO’s response to the disaster and how long residents were left without power.
“We have several demands before the company right now in terms of reimbursing customers for the lost timeframe,” Melton said.
