San Diego Gas & Electric began sending equipment and repair crews today to storm-damaged areas along the East Coast to help restore electrical service.
The 1,000-mile-wide storm -- Hurricane Sandy came ashore near Atlantic City, N.J., with winds of about 80 mph and is now a cyclone as it moves through upstate New York -- knocked out power to millions of people.
More than 40 workers will fly to the area on Friday, according to Gina Jacobs, a spokeswoman for SDG&E.
“We're sending six five-men line crews that will be helping with replacing with replacing power poles and restringing power lines and helping to repair the overhead electrical distribution," she said. "Really anything Con Edison needs.”
In addition, more than 20 pieces of equipment -- mechanized line trucks, aerial bucket trucks, light-duty bucket trucks, supervisor trucks and field mechanic trucks -- were loaded on flatbed carriers for the cross-country trip.
Jacobs said Con Edison will pay for the shipment.
"It sounds like they're in pretty bad shape from what we can tell, so we're going to give it our best and try to get people back on," electrical supervisor Ron Simpson told 10News. "It's what we signed up for as linemen. It's what we do, we restore the power."
The utility said operations in San Diego County and southern Orange County would not be hampered by the loan of equipment.
