Families try to keep a normal life without power

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - Many families in the area are still in the dark because of Friday's storm.  Thousands of families have been without power for four days, but they continue to try to maintain their everyday lives.

As of Monday night, close to 36,000 customers were without power in the Fort Wayne area.

On Ardis Street in Waynedale, one side of the street had its power restored Sunday night.  The remaining homes have been without power ever since Friday afternoon.

"It's been hectic," Aremanda Fann said.  "We've just been sitting around, and opening up the windows trying to stay cool, but it's hard.  We go to the store and there's no ice."

Fann and her family used several candles to light up their home after dark.  She said her family spent one night at a hotel and had hoped the power would be back when they came back home.

A couple houses down, Cindy Gillingham spent the extra time reading a book on her parent's front porch.

"We're trying the best we can," she said.

Gillingham and her family had been staying with family, but returned home after a neighbor let her family borrow a generator.

Both families said their neighbors are also staying at home, and hope power is restored soon.

They also said they've noticed how neighbors have helped each other the past few days.

"You can see they are trying to get the trees out of the way," Fann said.  "They're helping each other do that because it is taking a little longer than they thought."

"The street behind us, the side that doesn't have power, they got cords running over to the side of the street where people do have power," Gillingham said.

To help with restoring the power, Indiana Michigan Power is asking residents who have power to turn their porch lights on at night.