WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon is airlifting power restoration experts and trucks cross-country, from California to New York,
to bolster efforts to assist the millions of people still living in
darkness days after superstorm Sandy hit the U.S. Northeast.
The C-5 and C-17
military transport planes - designed to carry heavy military equipment,
like tanks - began flying from March Air Reserve Base in southern California early on Thursday and were due to start arriving in the afternoon at an Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, New York.
Pentagon spokesman George Little said 62 vehicles owned by Southern California Edison,
one of southern California's biggest power companies, will "move out to
support efforts to restore power to the stricken region."
More than 100
employees of Southern California Edison were flying out on the military
flights, as well on a separate charter flight, another U.S. official
said.
More than 4.6
million homes and businesses along the U.S. East Coast were without
power on Thursday, down from a high of nearly 8.5 million, which
surpassed the record 8.4 million customers who lost electricity from
last year's Hurricane Irene.
Sandy made landfall
in New Jersey with a full moon around high tide, creating a record
storm surge that flooded lower Manhattan. By Thursday, the storm had
dissipated over the North American mainland. LINK
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