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Arkansas crews head to Florida to help with Hurricane Idalia

Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas and Red Cross volunteers are going to Florida to help those impacted by Hurricane Idalia.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Now that Hurricane Idalia made landfall in Florida, volunteers and other crews are in for a busy time as they help locals impacted by the hurricane. 

Some Arkansans are heading to the hardest-hit areas to help out. 

60 line workers with Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas are headed to Florida to help restore power.

Those crews spent Wednesday in Alabama waiting for the go-ahead to continue their journey to the Sunshine State.

"You don't know what you're gonna get when you get there and how bad it's going to be,"  Mike Matty with Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas said.

However, Matty already knows thousands are without power.  

He and the rest of the crew plan to head to Madison, Fla., on Thursday to start working.

"We don't know the roads, we don't know where to go," Matty said. "We're going to have a leader from their organization show us where to go and what to do. They'll say, 'Ok, you start at this line, and this whole system is yours. You take care of it.'"

Matty said he and his guys love what they do and are ready to go wherever help is needed.  

"They begged to go on storms when they hit because first, you get to meet new people," Matty said. "You get to see different areas and learn different things on the system."

Volunteers from the Arkansas Red Cross are also on their way to assist.  

Dana Dusha is preparing for his second deployment as a Red Cross volunteer. 

He's currently in Orlando, Fla., but on Thursday, he expects to go to one of the hardest-hit spots to work in a shelter.  

"Putting cots together, checking people in, registering them," Dusha said. "Getting the food set up, the food preparation and the food disbursement, getting supplies out, monitoring."

He doesn't know where he will be assigned, but he plans to help out for the next two weeks.  

"I just want to help people and give back to those in need,"  Dusha said.

As of Wednesday evening, more than 19,000 people are without power.

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