Knoxville-area MidAmerican employees are going to be among a dozen crew members headed out to New York to help with damage that’s occurred due to Hurricane Sandy. MidAmerican spokesperson Tina Potthoff tells KNIA/KRLS News that they’ll be headed out as part of a nationwide mutual assistance program. The crew joins 15 MidAmerican employees that left on Saturday as they complete utility restoration work.

Potthoff says that the program is voluntary for MidAmerican employees. There are now two dozen MidAmerican linemen among the 27 total MidAmerican employees helping with power restoration after Hurricane Sandy. Potthoff says officials estimate the need for 20,000 linemen overall to make full restorations across the coast.