When a derecho tore through northwest Indiana on August 11 and left Gary and Lake County dark for fourteen days, the loss did not end when the power came back. Neither did the deadlines. We published a free recovery guide for residents, and it is still available.
If you receive SNAP, your food replacement affidavit is due Monday, August 31. Nothing about it is automatic. Lake and Porter counties already received an extension for this outage, and this is it. File online at fssabenefits.in.gov, call 1-800-403-0864, or walk into any DFR office and ask for State Form 40988. If you do not file, you get nothing.
What is in the guide
- What to photograph and write down before you throw anything else away — the ten minutes that determine what every program pays you later.
- How to apply to FEMA and the Indiana State Disaster Relief Fund, which cover different things and should both be filed.
- Where the food money actually is for households not on SNAP, and the exact question to ask your insurer.
- How to file a NIPSCO claim you expect to be denied, and why that denial letter is worth having.
- Direct lines for powered medical equipment, housing and rent problems, legal help, and food still on the ground.
The full guide is free, ungated, and printable.
Download the Guide (PDF) — a two-page black-and-white version built to photocopy and hand out at a church, a food bank, or a DFR office.
Three things almost everyone gets wrong
1. FEMA will not pay you back for spoiled food. In FEMA’s own words, the Individuals and Households Program “does not provide food assistance or food vouchers.” Apply to FEMA anyway, for damage and displacement — but do not sit waiting on a food check that is not coming.
2. NIPSCO has already said it will deny storm food claims. Its published position is that storms are an act of nature, so it does not reimburse customers for damage to property or food spoilage. File the claim regardless. A written denial is documentation your insurer, and any eventual settlement, will ask you to produce.
3. There is no automatic $1,200 payment for losing power. That rumor circulates after every outage, and FEMA has publicly denied it. Anyone charging you a fee to sign you up for disaster money is running a scam.
Also available
The companion guide for residents affected by the Spokane wildfires is still available too. Different hazard, same order of operations: document before you clean up, file insurance first, know what federal aid does not cover, and put your experience on the record.
Written by Brandi Richard Thompson, former federal emergency management official. More than 20 years with FEMA and DHS, where she led crisis communications for 51 million residents across 100+ presidential disaster declarations. She does not act on behalf of any government agency and cannot represent anyone before FEMA.
Operation Prepare is independent preparedness education. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or authorized to represent FEMA, the Department of Homeland Security, NIPSCO, or any government agency. This post is general information and is not legal, insurance, or financial advice. Programs and deadlines change — verify current information with your local emergency management office or by calling 211.