Temporary Housing on Your Lot in Northwest Indiana After the August Storms

This page is for homeowners in Gary, Hammond, Merrillville, Crown Point, Valparaiso, Portage, Michigan City, La Porte, and rural Lake, Porter, and LaPorte counties whose home is not livable after the August 2026 storms. Indiana has no statewide rule on living in a travel trailer on your own lot while the house is repaired, so the city, town, or county code decides, and in these three counties no code we found has a storm or rebuilding exception. Valparaiso and Portage allow short stays, and the rest bar it. That makes the planning office for your address the first call, and it makes the claim side matter, because Additional Living Expenses can pay for a hotel or a rental as well as a trailer. 1st Choice Living has placed furnished travel trailers on homeowners’ own property, nationwide, since 2004. We check the local rule for your address before anything is delivered, and we bill the carrier directly under ALE where the claim covers it.

The August storms and Lake, Porter, and LaPorte counties

FEMA lists Lake County, Porter County, and LaPorte County under Individual Assistance for this disaster. Households there apply for FEMA help at DisasterAssistance.gov or 1-800-621-3362; FEMA set October 25, 2026 as the deadline to apply in Indiana. Storm facts as of October 17, 2026, from official sources:

• Indiana. On August 13, 2026, Governor Braun signed Executive Order 26-21, declaring a statewide disaster emergency for 30 days due to flooding, severe weather, tornadic activity, and a derecho that began August 11, 2026. Source
• Federal, Indiana. On August 25, 2026, FEMA listed a major disaster declaration for Indiana, DR-4933-IN, for severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes, and flooding from August 11 to 24, 2026, and on September 25, 2026 it added Cass, Pike, and Putnam counties for Individual Assistance. As of October 17, 2026, its designated areas page named 24 counties under Individual Assistance, the FEMA program that pays households directly: Carroll, Cass, Dearborn, Decatur, Delaware, Fayette, Franklin, Hamilton, Hancock, Henry, LaPorte, Lake, Madison, Marion, Morgan, Pike, Porter, Pulaski, Putnam, Randolph, Rush, Tipton, Union, and Wayne. Source
• Deadline to apply, Indiana. In its September 25, 2026 news release, FEMA said the deadline to apply for FEMA Individual Assistance in Indiana is October 25, 2026. Source
• Weather, Indiana. NWS Indianapolis says a wet pattern from August 11 to 17, 2026 brought over a foot of rain to some parts of central Indiana, and that the White River at Anderson and Noblesville set record crests, breaking records from 1913. Source

Go back to a property only when local officials say it is safe. For roads, debris, and assistance events, follow the Lake County Emergency Management and Homeland Security, the Lake County Storm Info Hub, the Porter County Emergency Management, the LaPorte County Emergency Management of Homeland Security, and the LaPorte County 8/11/26 Storm Damage Assessment form, and the Indiana Department of Homeland Security.

Recovery status as of October 17, 2026

What the official county, city, state, utility, and FEMA pages stated when we read them. Each line carries its date and links its source.

• October 16, 2026. Indiana Department of Homeland Security lists in-person FEMA, SBA and state relief help events in Porter County (Portage and Valparaiso, Oct. 16), LaPorte County (La Porte library, Oct. 17) and Lake County libraries in Lake Station and Griffith (Oct. 20 to 22). Source: Indiana Department of Homeland Security
• October 14, 2026. Town of Porter (Porter County) says state debris removal collection of storm vegetative debris from public rights-of-way begins Friday, Oct. 16. Source: Town of Porter
• September 23, 2026. Lake County One-Stop Shop for FEMA help opens in Gary at United Steelworkers Local 1014, 1301 Texas St., Sept. 23 to 25 and Sept. 28 to Oct. 2, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Central. Source: Lake County Emergency Management and Homeland Security
• September 8, 2026. Merrillville storm debris collection is concluding; Sept. 15 was the last day to put storm branches and household debris at the curb. Source: Town of Merrillville
• August 25, 2026. NIPSCO reports power restored to 99% of customers in northern Indiana; remaining outages may involve damage to privately owned equipment. Source: NIPSCO
• August 25, 2026. Merrillville crews are consolidating and hauling storm tree debris as part of the town's debris removal process. Source: Town of Merrillville

Not stated on an official page. Anything not listed here was not stated on an official page we read. Ask the county emergency management agency for the latest.

Local rules on living in an RV on your lot

Whether a trailer can stay on your lot while the house is repaired is decided by your city or town, or outside city limits by the county or township, and by your HOA if you have one. We did not find an Indiana statute or state rule that allows or limits living in an RV or travel trailer on the lot of a home that is not livable after a disaster, so the city, town, or county zoning code decides.

Here is what each local code says, in plain words and then in its own words, with the link to the official page it was read on.

Where your city or county does not allow a trailer on the lot, ask its planning office what it does allow during repairs. The LaPorte County joint ordinance, for one, lets the Building Commissioner place a manufactured home on the lot of a burned home for up to six months; it does not cover a travel trailer or storm damage.

Rules here were read on official city, town, township, and county pages on October 17, 2026 and can change during a recovery. We confirm the rule for your address before delivery.

Permit and planning offices

• City of Gary Building Department, (219) 881-1377
• City of Gary Zoning Department, (219) 881-1332
• City of Hammond Zoning Division (improvement location permits), (219) 853-6397 ext. 3
• Town of Merrillville Planning and Building Department, (219) 769-3631
• City of Crown Point Building Department, (219) 662-3239
• Lake County Plan Commission (building permits for unincorporated Lake County), (219) 755-3700
• City of Valparaiso Planning Department, (219) 462-1161
• City of Portage Building Department, (219) 762-4204
• Porter County Building Department, (219) 465-3676
• Michigan City Planning and Zoning, (219) 873-1419
• Michigan City Building Permits and Inspections, (219) 873-1417
• City of La Porte Community Development and Planning, (219) 362-8260
• LaPorte County Building Department, (219) 326-6808 ext. 2221

Septic and health

Indiana's residential onsite sewage rule defines a dwelling as any place used for seasonal or permanent habitation or sleeping, and requires a written permit from the local health officer before an existing onsite system is added to or altered. We found no county rule written for hooking a trailer to a home's septic system, so call the county health department before connecting. Source: Indiana Administrative Code 410 IAC 6-8.3 (residential onsite sewage systems)

Power utilities

• NIPSCO (Northern Indiana Public Service Company): Main electric utility across Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties; its August 2026 storm support events were held in Portage, Hammond, La Porte, Gary and Merrillville. Source
• Kankakee Valley REMC: Rural electric cooperative serving rural parts of Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties. Source

If a trailer is not allowed at your address

Then a trailer on your lot is not the answer, and we will tell you so. Ask the planning office what it does allow during repairs, and ask your adjuster how your Additional Living Expenses apply to a hotel or a furnished rental instead. Our guide to arranging your own temporary housing covers the questions to ask and the receipts to keep.

• State Disaster Relief Fund. Indiana’s State Disaster Relief Fund rule limits its temporary housing category to vouchers or reimbursement for short-term lodging such as hotels and motels. Source
• Hotel voucher. The Indiana Department of Homeland Security says IHCDA’s August 2026 temporary housing help covers a hotel stay of up to 60 days or rental assistance, and that the last day to apply for IHCDA’s hotel voucher through Indiana 211 is Monday, October 19, 2026. Source

How the trailer is billed: Additional Living Expenses

Additional Living Expenses, or ALE, sometimes called loss of use, pays for somewhere to live while the house is not livable. Ask your carrier whether your policy includes it and what the limit is. The Indiana Department of Insurance lists additional living expenses, “in case damage makes your home temporarily unlivable,” among the coverages in a homeowners policy, and says that if a peril your homeowners policy covers forces you to move temporarily into a hotel or motel, your insurance may pay reasonable additional living expenses.

• Local rules for your address checked before delivery.
• A furnished travel trailer with a kitchen, a bathroom, real beds, and heat and air, delivered, leveled, and set up on your property.
• Utilities connected by licensed, insured contractors from our preferred vendor network, planned around what is actually working at the property.
• Site conditions documented at setup and again at takedown.
• Direct billing to your carrier under ALE where the claim covers it, tracked against your ALE limit.
• One named contact from the first call to the day the unit leaves.

Flood is different. National Flood Insurance Program policies do not provide additional living expense coverage. If your home also had damage your homeowners policy covers, such as wind, ask your adjuster how ALE applies. Your own carrier’s policy form sets the time and dollar limits; we have quoted them, with the source, on loss of use coverage by insurance carrier. This is general information, not legal or coverage advice. Your policy and your adjuster decide what is covered. 1st Choice Living is independent of every insurer and of FEMA.

Already working with a temporary housing company?

We work with any temporary housing company. If one is handling your housing, ask them to place you with 1st Choice Living for a trailer on your own lot in Northwest Indiana. They send us the placement, we deliver, set up, and service the trailer, and the billing runs through them or straight to your carrier, whichever way their program works.

What we need to start

• The property address and whether it is inside city or town limits.
• How many people are in the household.
• Your claim number and your adjuster’s name and contact.
• Your ALE limit, if your adjuster has told you.

From there we check the local rule for that address, confirm the lot can take a unit, and plan setup around what is safe and working at the property. Adjusters and housing companies can send a placement through for adjusters and carriers or for housing companies.

More on the August storms

• Temporary housing after the Indiana and Ohio storms: storm facts, FEMA deadlines, and how ALE works for a trailer on your lot.
• Nearby: North central Indiana, IN
• Nearby: Indianapolis and central Indiana, IN
• Travel trailers for families and crews in Northwest Indiana from Temporary RV Living, including the local rules on crew trailers at a job site.
• Drone documentation in Northwest Indiana from LossMap, to record roof and property damage before cleanup.
• Housewares for temporary housing after the storms from Temporary Housewares.

Frequently asked questions