President Donald Trump has approved a Presidential Emergency Declaration for Indiana, opening federal disaster assistance as the state digs out from historic flooding, six storm deaths and widespread damage. FEMA said the aid is now available to help supplement state, tribal and local response efforts while restoration work continues.
The declaration lands while Indiana is still counting losses from storms that began Tuesday and brought historic rainfall and flooding across the state. Emergency officials said six people died, including three in Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties, as several rivers burst their banks and local crews worked to get power back on.
Indiana Governor Mike Braun said he spoke with Trump on Saturday before the president approved the request for the emergency declaration. Braun had already declared a statewide disaster emergency on Friday, underscoring how quickly the situation escalated from a severe-weather emergency into a federal disaster response.
The response effort in northwest Indiana was briefly interrupted for a different reason in Gary. Gary Mayor Eddie Melton said gunfire hit a vehicle belonging to a NIPSCO utility crew that was working to restore electricity to residents, and no one was injured. NIPSCO paused some storm restoration work after the incident, then said work in Gary resumed Saturday evening.
Melton said the crews were there to help residents recover after days without power, and he called the violence unacceptable. NIPSCO said the safety of employees, contractors and the communities it serves remains its highest priority. Police are investigating the shooting, and Indiana State Police said it is deploying additional troopers to assist local departments.
The federal declaration does not end the crisis in Indiana; it marks the point where the state’s emergency response becomes a larger federal operation. The biggest question now is how fast that aid will reach the hardest-hit parts of Indiana while crews continue repairs and more storms remain in the forecast.
