Nearly 200 hydro workers from Ontario are on their way to Washington D.C., hoping to help the Americans restore power in the wake of an intense storm.

Nearly three million homes and businesses have been without electricity in D.C., Maryland and Virginia, while parts of the region continue to roast in a heat wave.

The North American utility companies have agreements to help each other, with Hydro One Spokeswoman Tiziana Baccega telling CityNews they were prepared to get the call.

“We’ve been watching it closely, just against the call was going to come, so we could start to get the crews ready, once that call was made we went to action and got them on the road as quickly as possible,” Baccega said.

At least 17 deaths are being blamed on the storms, which are being compared to a hurricane as far as damage and force.

With this storm, however, there was very little advance warning.

Adding to the complication is the blistering heat, which is making it hard on hydro crews working to restore power.

Daytime temperatures have touched 40 C in the region.