The destruction of Hurricane Sandy has left many people in the Northeast without power and homes.

Local utility companies have gotten together to help support and bring lives back to normal.

Diverse Power of Lagrange has sent out 29 of its employees to the Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative early Sunday morning. Ken Pope, Residential Services Marketing Coordinator, said that 20 right-of-way men and 9 linemen were sent to the area to help clear trees and debris and to help build and repair power lines.

“The damage is not as bad as the news and media predicted, so hopefully it everything will be back to normal pretty fast. We asked our employees to stay in the area for about two weeks,” said Pope.

Georgia Power, as of Tuesday, has sent 644 employees to help utilities in the Northeast. This includes line crews and damage assessment teams. They are working alongside existing utilities with a primary goal of restoring power to the citizens of these communities as quickly and safely as possible. They began their day at 6a.m. with a briefing with other local utility companies, discussing safety conditions and protocols for communication and restoring services.

The Red Cross is also accepting monetary donations to help to provide food and shelter for the storm victims. Any amount of donations will be accepted. Credit or debit card payments can be made by phone at 706-884-5815 or on the website at Redcross.org.