CenterPoint crews head to NE to help restore power

  Crystal Kobza

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Houstonians know very well what it's like to survive for days without power after a hurricane. That's why we always lend a helping hand when a big storm threatens elsewhere. This time is no different.

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CenterPoint crews are heading to the northeast to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. The linemen left the South Houston Service Center off South Shaver around 6am.

"It's just another big storm, you know," said one lineman.

They are driving to Maryland where they will provide much-needed assistance in the storm's aftermath.

"Ready to go, get up there and get people's lights on," said lineman Pittman.

These workers will be restoring power for PepCo customers in Maryland and the District of Columbia. They tell us they have been watching this storm and say they are expecting the worst.

"We're expecting adverse weather," said CenterPoint lineman Cornelius Fisher, Jr. "We're expecting a lot of power outages. We're expect just chaos basically."

"It is rough work. You have seen from Ike what we had to go through. We will be doing 16 hour days easy," said Jaime Salinas.

Workers tell us this time around they also packed for cold weather.

"We have all of our stuff packed. They told us pack for two weeks. I definitely have my longjohns because it's supposed to snow up there," Salinas said.

CenterPoint crews are expected to help out an estimated 800,000 who's power could be affected by the storm. They tell us though safety is always a top priority, especially when traveling to a new region.

"You have to really be aware of all the different conditions because you have wires down, you just have to be aware of all of your surroundings," said lineman Dan Martinez.

And before some of these workers left Houston they made sure they had one last thing for the trip.

"That's our team man. We're going up there to Baltimore we have to show the Ravens what's going on. Got to help them out," Salinas said.

These workers are expected to arrive in Baltimore on Wednesday that is where they will be briefed on the situation and be given their first assignment.

They do expect to be in the northeast for about two weeks.

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