Outpouring of Coloradans say "send me" to help Ian disaster recovery

Hurricane Ian has wrought devastation and destruction across the state of Florida. More than 2 and a half million people are without power.

Thousands are in or searching for a safe shelter, with the Red Cross housing some 13,000 people on Wednesday night.

Coloradans witnessing the historic damage are stepping up to help.  The Colorado and Wyoming chapter of the Red Cross has deployed 20 volunteers, and is poised to send more.

The Red Cross's Public Affairs Officer John Seward said, "We've seen an outpouring of folks volunteering to say 'send me' where can we go? So much so that we're saying 'hey hold on, this is going to be a long operation, so we don't need you yet but we might need you later.'"

The local Red Cross chapter is preparing to send many pallets of supplies, including cleaning kits, comfort kits, cots, portable kitchens, tarps and more. The Red Cross expects their recovery efforts after hurricane Ian will be a months-long effort.

Xcel Energy is also helping out in the hurricane zone. The company has released some 230 of its contractors to head to Florida to restore power to the more than 2.5 million people who've lost it. That includes many utility workers from here in Colorado.

The help from Xcel is part of a national effort involving thousands of energy workers who've been mobilized from 32 states and Washington DC.

They'll be helping local crews remove debris and restore power after Ian's wrath.

Xcel Regional Vice President for Distribution Operations Kristopher Farruggia said,  "A lot of coordination occurs so as part of that consortium of Edison Electric Institute utilities we partner with, the utilities in need, understand what resource challenges they have or what sort of profile they're looking to correct."