MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Xcel Energy crews from Minnesota and Wisconsin are lending a hand in Ohio where about 445,000 customers are without power because of weekend storms.

Seventeen employees from Minnesota and seven from Wisconsin were expected to arrive for duty in Chillicothe, Ohio Monday to help restore service. The help is in response to a request by American Electric Power and is part of an on-going mutual aid agreement.

Parts of Ohio were walloped by two rounds of weekend thunderstorms. More than half of Wayne National Forest in southern Ohio is closed as utility crews work to restore electricity.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)