Two Months After the Derecho, Dyer's Fall Is Still Running on Storm Recovery Time

How many of the bare spots along Dyer's parkways will have new trees in them by next spring? As of mid-October, the Town of Dyer hasn't said. Its most recent storm update says plans for replacement trees will be shared "as those details are confirmed."

That open question sits under everything else on the town's fall schedule. Stump grinding, leaf pickup, a consolidated garbage day and two department open houses all fall within a few weeks of each other. Each one is a step from emergency response back toward normal routine. The routine itself is also changing while the canopy question stays unresolved.

What August 11 actually was

The National Weather Service office in Chicago classified the August 11, 2026 storm as a derecho. That's a long-lived line of thunderstorms that produces widespread wind damage. NWS Chicago's event summary describes straight-line winds of 70 to locally more than 100 mph across northeastern Illinois and northwest Indiana, with a peak gust of 99 mph recorded at Gary/Chicago International Airport. The same summary says some parts of northwest Indiana were without power for more than two weeks afterward.

The derecho also produced eight confirmed tornadoes in the NWS Chicago area. None of the listed tracks is labeled for Dyer. In its storm reports, NWS logged siding stripped from a house about one mile west-southwest of Dyer as thunderstorm wind damage. The Times of Northwest Indiana's photo coverage showed a tree down on a car in Dyer and trees that took out a power line and an iron fence at Castlewood off U.S. 30.

The scale shows in the outage numbers. Nearly a week after the storm, Town Manager David Hein told CBS Chicago that about half of Dyer was still without power. The town has more than 6,400 households, and its wastewater treatment plant had been running on a backup generator. That same day, NIPSCO reported 102,000 customers still out across its territory. Lakeshore Public Media reported that NIPSCO's estimate for most remaining Dyer customers was 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, August 19, with a systemwide target of August 21.

The cleanup ran in phases, and one is still open

From the Town's public notices, the recovery has followed a clear sequence:

1. August 13. The Town issued a declaration of local disaster emergency.

2. August 24. The Town asked residents to get remaining storm limbs and debris to the curb, clear of vehicles, hydrants and electrical boxes. It opened a dumpster for Dyer residents only at Public Works, 516 Edmond Drive, and said tree limbs and yard debris did not belong in it.

3. September 1. The Town posted a call for volunteers to help with storm cleanup. GoServ Global volunteers were available to residents who couldn't do the work themselves, with requests routed through Town Hall.

4. September 14. Contracted storm-debris pickup ended.

5. September 28. The Town announced that stump grinding was underway for trees removed from public parkways.

Step five is the one still in progress. The stump program covers only the parkway, the strip between the curb and the sidewalk. Stumps in front or back yards are not included. Grinding takes different equipment than limb removal, so the stump crew may show up after tree work in a neighborhood looks finished. If you think a parkway stump was missed, the Town asks you to contact Dyer Public Works at (219) 865-4222 or dpw@townofdyer.com with your address and the stump's location. It also wants reports of standing parkway trees that are leaning, damaged or lifting a sidewalk.

The tree question isn't on an agenda yet

Grinding a stump leaves a patch of dirt and the question of what goes there next. The Town has said it will share details on restoring those areas, and on any replacement trees, once plans are confirmed. The October newsletter repeats that wording. The Town Council agendas posted for October 1, October 6 and October 8 list budget and bond items. None lists parkway tree replacement.

The agendas don't rule out a later decision. They do mean no replacement schedule, cost or species list has been published yet. For homeowners on blocks that lost parkway trees, the clearest source for updates is the Town's website, its Facebook page and the resident text program it already uses for service notices.

The Town does plant trees every fall through a separate program. Dyer Parks & Recreation's Fall 2026 Leisuregram describes the Living Tree & Park Bench Memorials program. A minimum donation of $700 covers a tree and a plaque, and trees are planted each fall. That program is for parks, not storm-damaged parkways. But it's the one tree-planting option the Town is advertising this season.

Leaf season arrives before the stump work is done

Ordinary fall work is now running on top of storm recovery. Dyer's leaf and branch pickup alternates by week between the areas north and south of U.S. 30. The Town recommends setting material out the weekend before your scheduled week and notes that weather can delay crews. The 2026 removal schedule is linked from the Town's Solid Waste Removal page.

The standing rules from the Town's Limb and Leaf Pickup guidelines matter more than usual this year, since many yards still have leftover storm wood:

• Leaves go loose in the parkway. Keep them out of the street and away from hydrants, sidewalks and storm drains. Bagged leaves are not collected.

• Branches should be 6 to 8 feet long and no more than 10 inches in diameter. Stack them neatly in the parkway with the cut end pointing toward the street.

• Keep piles pure. Anything other than leaves or branches can damage the leaf vacuum or chipper. Small twig piles go in the garbage cart.

• Contractor wood is excluded. The Town does not pick up branch material from tree removal done by contractors, or from commercial properties. Some Planned Unit Developments don't get curbside pickup at all.

The contractor rule is the one most likely to catch people this fall. Many homeowners hired private crews for yard trees after August 11, and the Town's curbside program isn't set up to take that material.

Then trash day moves

Starting the week of Friday, November 6, Republic Services will collect residential garbage across Dyer on Fridays only. That merges the town's current Thursday and Friday routes into one day. Recycling stays on its every-other-week rotation, also on Fridays. The Town recommends putting carts at the curb Thursday evening. Republic will still take one large item per household with each weekly pickup.

Households on the current Thursday route will have a new weekly habit to learn during peak leaf season. For a missed pickup or a damaged cart, the Town directs residents to Dyer Town Hall at (219) 865-6108.

October's calendar puts you in front of the people who did the cleanup

The two departments that carried most of the storm response are opening their doors this month, alongside the usual Parks programming:

The Public Works open house is at 516 Edmond Drive. That's the same address as the residents-only storm dumpster in August, and the department that took stump reports is the one giving the tours. The Town describes the morning as a chance to learn about "the work that keeps Dyer running." The Halloween parade is co-hosted by Dyer Parks & Recreation and the Dyer FOP. Its costume contest has Best Family, Traditional, Most Creative and Scariest categories. Local businesses that want a spot at Trunk-or-Treat can call Parks at (219) 865-2505.

The Public Works open house and the Halloween parade fall on the same Saturday, on opposite sides of the day. The open house ends at noon, and parade registration opens at Central Park at 2:30.

If the derecho left a stump, a bare patch of parkway or a yard you've rethought since August, The Lauren Roman Group is glad to talk through how storm repairs and landscaping changes show up in a home's value. Start with a free home valuation, and we'll keep following Dyer's recovery updates as the Town releases them.