Several Indiana utilities companies assist with Hurricane Sandy damage

On Thursday, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels asked the state’s largest utilities companies to reassess their resources to determine if they could send support to East Coast areas impacted by Hurricane Sandy following a telephone conversation with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Indiana utilities companies sent staff and contractors to states needing assistance before the hurricane reached American shores Monday, according to a press release from the governor’s office.

“As in past disasters, no state I know of has hurried to a neighbor’s side more actively than ours has,” Daniels said in the release. “Chris Christie is a tough and resourceful leader, and if he says he needs more help then you know he’s got a genuine crisis on his hands.”

Indiana utilities companies have continued to redeploy workers, primarily line repair and tree trimming staff, while maintaining adequate resources in Indiana.

As of Wednesday, Vectren Corporation has deployed about 75 contractors and staff to provide power line repair, tree trimming and safety, according to the release.

About 2,700 Duke Energy employees and contractors from six states, including 331 from Indiana, have assisted with power restoration. The Northern Indiana Public Service Company provided about 130 contractors and staff to assist with restoration efforts.

Thirty-seven employees and contractors from Indianapolis Power & Light Company are working in West Virginia and another 22 in Pennsylvania to help with power line clearance and restoration, according to the release.

About 300 staff and contractors for Indiana Michigan Power are in West Virginia, New York and New Jersey assisting with power line repair, restoration efforts and repairs on underground network systems.

More than 200 Hoosier first-responders were among the first to deploy to New Jersey, New York and Maryland, according to the release.

This assistance included ambulance crews in New Jersey and three incident management teams in New York and Maryland to assist with planning and logistics and Indiana Task Force 1 in New York.

Indiana ambulance crews returned to Indiana from New Jersey on Thursday, according to the release.

— Mark Keierleber