‘Getting no help’: Thousands in Gary, Indiana, still without power nearly 2 weeks after storms

For some in the predominantly Black city, the lack of electricity has caused medical complications, while others are cooking what food they can at local parks before it spoils.

GARY, Ind. — The power outages caused by storms that roared through the region nearly two weeks ago have one resident of this Rust Belt city literally gasping for air.

Joetta Walker, who is 73 and has asthma, uses a nebulizer to help her breathe. But right now it’s a useless piece of machinery, and she has had to rely on an inhaler to survive.

“I have a nebulizer where I need to take breathing treatments,” Walker said in an interview at her sweltering home. “I can’t do that without the electricity.”

Lifelong Gary, Ind., resident Joetta Walker, 73, holds her nebulizer.Selina Guevara / NBC NewsWalker said the inhaler doesn’t give her the same level of relief.

“I wheeze,” Walker said and demonstrated. “You hear it now because I get too hot.”