SACRAMENTO, Calif. — PG&E workers who traveled cross country to help communities hit by hurricanes Helene and Milton are back home.
Their plane arrived to Sacramento International Airport Wednesday afternoon after being deployed for two weeks.
"First going to Georgia to help with Hurricane Helene storm recovery, putting in utility poles, stringing power lines, getting people back on with power, then later, shifted to central Florida as Hurricane Milton approached," said PG&E spokesperson Paul Moreno.
The storms left millions across the Southeast without power. Chris Hayes from Lodi was among more than 400 workers deployed by PG&E to support utility companies out there with repair work.
“It was cool to just go there and just to help out all the people that lost almost - some people everything, some people everything - but everyone else was even after almost losing everything, they were super happy to see us," he said.
Employees from across the state took the call to help, including from Stockton, Auburn and Placerville. Buses lined the airport Wednesday afternoon to take them home.
"I'm glad to see my wife and get home and see my boys," Hayes said. "Just spend some quality time with the family and decompress a little bit."
Fellow PG&E workers and families of deployed crew members greeted them in the parking lot as they got off the plane. PG&E said crews logged more than 16,000 hours during their deployment.
Moreno said crews helped restore power to people who had been without power for more than a week and "who really relied on that power to get their lives back together."
PG&E said this is the largest mutual assistance deployment for their utility company. They also sent crews to help during other hurricanes, including Maria and Irma back in 2017.
WATCH MORE ON ABC10 | Hurricane Milton: Damage aftermath update - Oct. 9
