(LEX 18) — Hurrican Laura has left a devastating mark on Louisiana, and now it's all hands on deck to restore power and search for people who may be trapped in the rubble.
One team called Ohio Task Force One is heading to Shreveport to assist in search and rescue operations.
The team consists of rescuers and firefighters from Kentucky and Ohio.
In a Facebook post Friday morning the team leader said, "All our members are healthy and ready to go to work. The spirit and enthusiasm of these men and women is simply amazing. They are well trained and ready to jump in to help the people of Louisiana recover from this storm."
Utilities crews from Kentucky have also been deployed to help with restoration efforts.
A Kentucky Utilities spokesman said 208 employees and contractors from KU and LG&E are doing everything from line repairs to fixing broken power poles and clearing trees and limbs from power lines.
Currently, they are working in Baton Rouge but will go elsewhere, if needed.
"Our folks are very busy down there and they're doing their best and they're working hard and they work long hours and its tough work," KU spokesman Daniel Lowry said. "Our folks really care about helping people and they're trying to do their best to get the lights back on down there as safely and as quickly as possible."
Lowry said KU participates in mutual assistance programs, which means that they travel to other areas after a disaster and other power companies would be expected to do the same after large storms in Kentucky.
"A lot of utilities work together to help each other and they do that for us too if we have a bad storm here in Kentucky, and so when there are hurricanes outside of our service territory and bad storms we try to respond along with other utilities to help each other out because the goal is to get their power back or restored," Lowry said.
He added that there is ample staff still in Kentucky as we brace for the remnants of Hurricane Laura headed our way.
