STEWART AIRPORT – Help is on the way from California, thanks to a coordinated multi-jurisdiction hurricane relief effort spearheaded by FEMA.

Over 70 heavy-duty power line utility vehicles were shipped cross-country Thursday to Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, along with teams of electrical workers.

Utility truck rolls off a giant cargo plane at Stewart base

The west coast crews are being deployed to New York City and elsewhere, assisting with regional grid repairs due to widespread storm damage. Many places in the metropolitan area remain without power from Hurricane Sandy, which struck the region Monday.

An enormous C-5 cargo jet lumbered slowly towards the base, then taxied its way over near the hangar, engines still screaming. The front nose hatch opened upwards like a giant Pez dispenser, and a metal ramp was carefully lowered onto the tarmac. Soon, the first cherry picker truck rolled out, surrounded by guardsmen handling the equipment.

“You're witnessing why Newburgh is called the crossroads of the northeast,” said Col. Timothy LaBarge,  commander of the 105th Airlift Wing at Stewart Air National Guard Base. “With the airport here, and Rt. 84, Rt. 87, and our proximity to New York City, we're the perfect place for this mission,” he said.

The yet-unnamed operation, transporting electrical crews via Air Froce cargo planes, was conceived  and executed all within 12 hours of the first military cargo jets touching down  Thursday afternoon, LaBarge noted.