Gary, Indiana restaurant owner loses $19K in sales after week-long blackout

Joslyn Kelly, owner of J’s Breakfast Club in Gary, Indiana, faced significant financial hardship following a derecho storm on August 11. The widespread wind storm caused a prolonged power outage that lasted over a week, with electricity not being fully restored until approximately 1 a.m. on Thursday, August 20.

To maintain operations during the blackout, Kelly utilized gas appliances, purchased tents, portable lights, and propane-fueled equipment to set up an outdoor cooking station. Despite these efforts, the restaurant lost approximately 90% of its sales, resulting in an estimated $19,000 loss. The outage affected hundreds of thousands of residents, with Northern Indiana Public Service Co. reporting that over 57,000 customers remained without power as of Thursday evening.