Duke Energy preps to send crews to eastern coast once Hurricane Sandy hits

CINCINNATI - Leaders are warning that some areas along the east coast could lose electricity for a week or more once Hurricane Sandy makes landfall.

Duke Energy is ready to send crews from the Tri-State to the coast to help with widespread power outages if they are needed.

Duke Energy began storms calls on Friday in anticipation of Sandy impacting service territories on the coast as well as in the Midwest.  Duke has its supplies ready in case there are outages in the states served by Duke.  The company is working with meteorologists to track the storm, especially the wind.

Hundreds of people from the Tri-State could potentially be sent to the coast to help out.

"So I think what we'll be doing internally is looking at service territories first to see where the impacts may be and see if we need to help our colleagues in other states we serve and certainly working with regional utility companies that might request mutual aid typically in this type of weather," Duke Energy spokesperson Sally Thelen said.

Thelen doesn't expect the storm to affect the Tri-State like Hurricane Ike did in 2008.

Once the storm picks up, Duke Energy advises its customers to beware of any fallen power lines because they could be energized. You're being asked to call an expert or 911 for help.