Dozens of power company trucks equipped with cherry pickers made a stopover in Demopolis on Monday on their way to the Gulf area to assist with the clean-up.

Trucks from W.A. Kendall & Co. and Seelbach companies filled the City Landing, while employees stayed over in the Demopolis Civic Center.

“We have about 160 men with us here,” said representative Neil Kemp of Nashville, Tenn. “They came from Tennessee, Kentucky and northern Georgia. We’re using the landing as a staging area before we take off for Canton, Miss.”

The crews will help clean up fallen debris and power lines, working to help restore power to the areas affected by Hurricane Gustav.

“We went after (hurricanes) Katrina and Rita to help them restore power,” Kemp said. We also went into Biloxi, Miss., and into Baldwin County, Alabama.

“We want to thank Demopolis for hosting us and letting us borrow this area for our staging.”

Demopolis has seen National Guard units pass through on their way to the Gulf and has also been a relocation site for people evacuating from the Gulf coast.