Local Repair Crews Head To Storm Damaged East Region

DETROIT (WWJ) - Violent storms have knocked out power to more than two million people in the in the nation's east region. Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Indiana and Ohio were affected, and forecasters are predicting another heat wave for the area Saturday.

Locally, about 100 unemployed lineman from DTE are headed out east to help get power restored to those affected by the severe storms that rocked parts of the nation.

Kevin Shaffer, union leader for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 17 based in Southfield, spoke live on WWJ about their mission.

"It'll be a typical storm damage, broken poles, we'll have a lot of wire on the ground, some transformer problems - that all need to be replaced - it's all part of rebuilding the infrastructure to get everyone back in lights," said Shaffer.

Shaffer says many utility companies across the nation have a mutual assistance program system set up, so that whenever they have massive outages, they call on their colleagues in other states to help out.

Check the CBS Detroit weather page for the extended forecast and up-to-the-minute information.