ATLANTA — About a million homes and businesses are without electricity in New Orleans after Hurricane Ida caused catastrophic damage to a power company's transmission system. 911 lines are also down across Southeastern Louisiana, and officials warn it could be weeks before everything is back online.
So, on Monday, dozens of Georgia Power crews hit the road to help.
"We're ready to go out there and help. If that means changing out poles or helping with generation issues or distribution lines, we're going to do that as long as needed," said Allison Gregoire, Communications Director for Georgia Power.
The Atlanta-based Home Depot Foundation has boots on the ground as well, working with partners like Convoy of Hope, Operation Blessing, Team Rubicon, and All Hands and Hearts. They hope to distribute 150,000 pounds of food and 700 disaster clean-up kits.
"They will start determining in what area should they set up their official base of operation so they can start handing out the aid like food and water and cleaning supplies," said Sean Vissar, Director of Disaster Response for the Home Depot Foundation.
And the Georgia Red Cross sent 20 volunteers before the storm even hit.
"Most of our volunteers are working on sheltering and feeding people in need in the area," said Georgia Red Cross', Ruby Ramirez.
Ramirex said on Sunday night, 2,500 people in Louisiana went to the 60 shelters that were already set up. They expect more people to arrive soon, and will match their volunteers to meet that need.
"We'll be there for quite a bit of time," said Ramirez.
Georgia Power said they expect to send hundreds of additional crew members down in the coming days as the need for help increases across Louisiana.