SoCal Edison Crews Headed East To Help Restore Power

MORENO VALLEY (CBSLA.com) — Crews from Southern California Edison are loading up and headed East.

The crews were packing up Thursday -- utility trucks included -- in a mission to help the Hurricane Sandy-ravaged coast.

Crews are leaving from Ontario Airport. Earlier today, three C-17 planes filled with equipment and planned to leave from Moreno Valley.

CBS2 and KCAL9 reporter Greg Mills was there for all the prep.

All three planes were expected to be airborne by 8 p.m. Thursday.

One of the planes was being piloted by Air Force reservist Lieutenant Colonel John Jost. "We volunteered for this, our whole crew."

His last mission? Helping out victims of Hurricane Katrina. That mission also sent food and supplies.

The mission to help people displaced by Sandy, will be more about trucks and restoring electricity. Nearly 70 SCE trucks will eventually make the trek.

Mills says more than 120 SCE employees and 80 contractors are also making the sojourn.

SCE plans to team up with Con Edison to help the hundreds of thousands of people still in the dark.

Ray Hicks, of SCE, says "When our crews arrive, they will report to a command center and Consolidated Edison will assign our crews to several different states and areas."

The workers are expected to remain back there 3-4 weeks.