CLEVELAND (WJW) – Hurricane Helene has caused extensive damage in numerous states across the Southeast and Midwest. Now energy companies are scrambling to restore power for close to a million customers left in the dark.
To expedite those efforts, crews from FirstEnergy are traveling from Ohio and Pennsylvania to two of the hardest-hit states.
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“We like to be able to share our resources when we can,” FirstEnergy Spokesperson Hannah Catlett said. “These guys put their lives on hold to be able to go help down in the hardest hit areas.”
Catlett says 50 transmission workers are headed to help Duke Energy’s restoration efforts in the Carolinas, where more than 750,000 people are without power. One hundred additional workers are headed to West Virginia to help restore power for more than 100,000 AEP Electric customers after Helene’s remnants caused even more damage.
Catlett said that just getting to these impacted areas is a major challenge.