MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT) -- Eight Tennessee utility districts have sent volunteer line workers to help get the power back on in Virginia and Maryland as part of Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts.
Trent Scott of the Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association says 60 lineman are already in the northeast waiting in staging areas for the go-ahead to begin repairs. Nashville Electric says it’s released an additional 20 contract line crews for recovery duty.
Scott says he’s hearing from East Coast utilities that the damage in Virginia and Maryland wasn’t as bad as what was experience further north in New Jersey and New York. They don’t expect to need the Tennessee volunteer lineman for more than two weeks.
“We typically wrap everything up within a week to two weeks. Anything over two weeks we’d probably look at sending some additional crews up to relieve the folks that are up there now.”
The Associated Press is reporting that Sandy’s passing has left 7 million people without power.