The Town of Merrillville

06/13/2026

The Ross Township Trustee's Office is open today (June 13) and Sunday (June 14) to provide supplies to those affected by the tornado. The office is also collecting donations at this time.

Salvation Army will also be at 7201 Taft Street today (June 13) handing out a lot of blankets, health kits and cleaning supplies.

Strack and Van Til at 61st and Broadway will again be handing out free meals to affected residents from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. today (June 13)
Volunteers from Hy-Vee will also visit affected areas today to hand out meals and supplies.

06/13/2026

NIPSCO is projecting power will be restored to the majority of Merrillville customers by Tuesday, June 16. Visit nipsco.com for more information about the restoration process and updates about their efforts.

06/13/2026

Storm Update (7:45 p.m. June 12)

Residents who sustained storm damage are encouraged to report their damage by visiting in211.org and clicking on the “DAMAGE REPORTING” tab. You can also call 2-1-1 or call 866-211-9966 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday to report damage. This information is used to determine the needs in the community and develop the next course of action in the disaster recovery process.

With the ongoing storm cleanup efforts, residents are reminded to take precautions when hiring contractors. Below are a few steps residents can take to ensure you are dealing with legitimate businesses.
• Contact your insurance company first before hiring a contractor.
• Contact the Merrillville Planning and Building Department at 219.769.3631 before hiring a contractor to verify the company is properly licensed with the Town of Merrillville.
• Confirm the contractor is insured and bonded.

The Ross Township Trustee’s Office will be open on Saturday and Sunday to provide clothing, food, toiletries and other items to those affected by the storm. Contact the Ross Township Trustee’s Office at 219-769-2111 for more information.

Town leaders, the Ross Township Trustee’s Office and the Indiana Department of Homeland Security are collaborating to identify volunteer groups available to assist residents with storm cleanup efforts. More details will be posted when that information is available.

CommunityOS is an I&R, Disaster, and Public Health client database and case management system.

06/12/2026

Storm Update (2 p.m. June 12)

The Town of Merrillville will have large trash receptacles delivered today (June 12) at the following locations:
5998 Polk Court
58th Ave. and McKinley St.
58th Ave. and Roosevelt St.
57th Ave. and Massachusetts St. (church parking lot)
63rd Ave. and Taney Ct.
63rd Ave. and Taft St.

Officials are working to have more trash receptacles placed in other locations. We will post more information as more locations are scheduled.

Anyone needing assistance following Thursday’s destructive storm is encouraged to reach out to the American Red Cross (800-733-2767) or the Ross Township Trustee’s Office (219-769-2111)
The American Red Cross has established a shelter set up for 700 beds at the Lincoln Center, 2450 Lincoln Street in Highland. If you are in need of transportation to the shelter, please call the Red Cross. As of this morning, only one person from Merrillville has taken advantage of the shelter, but we expect more will today.
Those wishing to donate clothing, toiletries and food to those affected by the storm can drop off donations at the Ross Township Trustee’s Office, 26 W. 73rd Ave.
Strack and Van Til at 61st and Broadway until 5 p.m. is offering free meals to those affected by the storm.

06/12/2026

Update following Thursday night's storm (9:15 a.m. June 12)

Anyone needing assistance following Thursday’s destructive storm is encouraged to reach out to the American Red Cross (800-733-2767) or the Ross Township Trustee’s Office (219-769-2111)

The American Red Cross has established a shelter set up for 700 beds at the Lincoln Center, 2450 Lincoln Street in Highland. If you are in need of transportation to the shelter, please call the Red Cross. As of this morning, only one person from Merrillville has taken advantage of the shelter, but we expect more will today.

Those wishing to donate clothing, toiletries and food to those affected by the storm can drop off donations at the Ross Township Trustee’s Office, 26 W. 73rd Ave.

Strack and Van Til at 61st and Broadway from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. is offering free meals to those affected by the storm.

Town Council President Rick Bella today will sign a declaration of emergency, which starts the process of receiving state and federal aid for recovery.

More than 200 buildings sustained some sort of damage during Thursday’s storm, some of which destroyed. Much of the damage involved residential areas. Andrean High School also sustained heavy damage.

There have been no reported injuries related to the storm and the damage it caused. There was one minor injury involving a semi that flipped.

The Street Department is out clearing streets, and we are thankful for the support of the cities of Gary, Hobart and Crown Point as well as Lake County, which have offered to assist with the cleanup efforts.

Broadway remains closed between the railroad tracks and 57th Avenue. Crews have closed 61st Avenue near Merrillville Intermediate School. Many side streets also remain closed because of debris.

We are working with Waste Management to have more trash containers available to residents as cleanup efforts continue.

We will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available.

We are beyond thankful for the service of our first responders from The Heart of the Region and surrounding areas for their dedication to assisting and protecting our community during this devastating storm.

06/12/2026

There has been extensive damage across the town from Thursday night’s storm. There are road closures throughout Merrillville due to downed trees and power lines. As of late Thursday, a command center has been established near 61st and Cleveland Street, and multiple agencies from as far as Illinois are assisting as first responders search and assess the damage. Crews have started to clear roadways.
Please stay clear of any fallen utility lines or damaged utility poles as these pose a serious safety risk.

Call 911 for any emergencies.

Non-emergency requests for service can be submitted at merrillville.in.gov/service
This includes downed trees and limbs in the roadways and flooded areas.

We thank all the first responders for their efforts in the response to this devastating storm.

06/11/2026

Due to the projected severe weather, the NWI Forum is postponing the Data Center Educational Community Event scheduled tonight (June 11) at the Dean and Barbara White Community Center. We will announce when the event has been rescheduled.

06/11/2026

With severe weather projected for our area, the National Weather Service advises to have multiple ways to receive warning information and a way to be woken up by these notifications since these storms will be moving through at night.

Severe weather is still likely tonight with damaging winds and a few tornadoes possible. Make sure to have multiple ways to receive warning information and a way to be woken up by these notifications since these storms will be moving through at night.

06/11/2026

MERRILLVILLE AREA
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There will be a Mobile Market food distribution this Saturday, June 13 at 9am, at the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana, 6490 Broadway, Merrillville.

Thank you to Anthem for sponsoring!

TEXT "MARKET" TO 219-500-6464 FOR REMINDERS!

Mobile Market is available to anyone in NW Indiana needing food assistance. For the full schedule of Mobile Market food distributions, visit: foodbanknwi.org/market

06/11/2026

Friday (June 12) is the last day to submit caps for the Cap-A-Thon program offered by the Lake County Solid Waste Management District. We've already surpassed our goal of collecting 200 pounds of plastic caps, but we're happy to have additional caps to recycle.
Through this program, The Heart of the Region will receive a free bench made from the recycled caps.
Caps can be dropped off at Town Hall, 7820 Broadway. Please clean the caps before donating them.