WMECO preps for Sandy

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - Ahead of Hurricane Sandy's arrival, crews from across the country arrived in western Mass. early Monday morning to join forces with Western Massachusetts Electric Company ( WMECo).

WMECo has been gearing up to clean-up whatever kind of damage the storm may bring to our area.

A total of 200 crews met on the Eastern States Exposition grounds in West Springfield. Line workers and tree crews from near and--as far away as Michigan and Oklahoma--packed their trucks to prepare for the restoration efforts ahead.

David Mitchell of Monson works for WMECo. He and his co-workers have been ahead of the curve, prepping since last week for Sandy's arrival. "We'll see how the storm goes. But the company did a good job preparing for the storm this time", said Mitchell.

The crews have been split-up evenly and staged at WMECo's 4 service centers in: East Springfield, Hadley, Greenfield and Pittsfield.

Now the crews will just have to wait and see what hurricane Sandy will bring.

WMECo President, Peter Clarke told 22News they'll be ready as the impact of the storm gets closer. "We look at our outage management system so when customers call in and report and outage, it goes into our computer system. We see that graphically, and then we will dispatch that out to the nearest crew", said Clarke.

If you do lose power, make sure to shut-off the main breaker of your home to avoid electrical fires. Also stay at least 10 ft. away from any downed wires. Don't try and clean them up yourself--wait for crews to come and remove them.

To report power outages in your area, call 3-1-1 or contact WMECo .