WMECO deploys to N.J. to help

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - For thousands of people in New Jersey, the power is still not back on, and that is why Western Massachusetts Electric Company has deployed more than a dozen workers to help.

17 WMECo line workers left their Cadwell Drive facility for New Jersey just before 6:00 Friday morning. They will be helping to restore power for the thousands who've been in the dark for more than a week.

"Mutual aid is a proud and time-honored tradition of utilities helping utilities," said WMECo President Peter Clarke.

After last year's October snowstorm, utility crews from across the country came to help restore power here. Hurricane Irene was another example of a time when our own utility companies were stretched to the max.

The damage in New Jersey from Hurricane Sandy was exponentially more severe than in western Massachusetts.

In Atlantic City, the Barrier Islands, and across the Jersey Shore, thousands are still without power after Sandy made landfall in the Garden State.

Utility crews from across the country are still in New Jersey, including workers from Connecticut Light & Power, which deployed there yesterday after dealing with widespread outages of their own.

Because of the destruction in New Jersey, FEMA is sending manufactured mobile housing into the state  to help the people who live in the hardest-hit areas.