FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — Indiana Michigan Power is sending more than 200 employees and contractors to the Gulf Coast to help with power restoration efforts in the wake of Hurricane Laura.

Power crews left service centers early Thursday to travel as far as Mississippi and Arkansas, I&M said. The workers should deploy early Friday.

The sites where they will work have not yet been determined.

I&M will provide mutual assistance to Southwestern Electric Power Co., which serves parts of Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas. SWEPCO crews and contractors helped I&M earlier this month after a derecho caused widespread power outages in southwest Michigan and northern Indiana.