COLUMBUS – Thousands of utility workers and soldiers are headed from Ohio to the South to help deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Irma.
Irma caused record-setting flooding in Jacksonville as it moved over Florida.
AEP Ohio says it has sent 745 of its employees to assist in recovery efforts.
The utility sent line personnel, tree crews, assessors and crew supervisors to Florida to help restore power.
Meanwhile, the general in charge of the Ohio National Guard says as many as 3,500 Ohio soldiers will be sent to Florida to help the state with the recovery efforts.
Maj. General Mark Bartman told The Associated Press on Saturday that Ohio guardsman will be part of a contingent of around 7,000 soldiers from National Guard units in Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan.
Bartman says Ohio National Guard soldiers will likely head to Florida starting sometime next week.
Fourteen crew members and two CH-47 Chinook helicopters were scheduled to leave from the Army Aviation Support Facility in North Canton at Monday afternoon and were set to stage in South Carolina in preparation to support the response effort in Florida, Guard spokesman William Pierce said.
The crews recently returned from providing support to Texas after Hurricane Harvey (see video above), including refueling rescue helicopters and delivering food to stranded livestock. The Chinook is a twin-engine, tandem-rotor, heavy-lift helicopter that can be used to transport personnel, equipment and supplies.
More than 160 animals were flown into Columbus and 12 of those were taken in by the Toledo Area Humane Society, which received a total of 32 dogs and 28 cats that had to be moved out of Florida ahead of the storm.
Officials say the animals came from a shelter in Bradenton, Florida, that had to make room for any animals they might need to take in after the storm. They arrived in Toledo on Sunday, and officials say some of them have already found homes.