"Four men, two trucks."

Their manager says their skills are desperately needed after Hurricane Gustav left thousands in the dark.

"They have 95,000 members and 94,000 members are without service. So they are pretty devastated right now."

Though he's worked through many disasters, this is Russell's first foray to help hurricane victims.

"I just wanted to be a helper."

While they were on their way out of Missouri, others were coming here for refuge.

James Talley and his family spent a grueling 16 hours on the road. They've been to the Ozarks before -- three years ago when Katrina hit.

"Well, actually, because of the way you all treated us last time," he said, when asked why the family came to Springfield. "It was so good, and when they said, 'Where do you want to go?' -- that was the first place we thought of: Springfield."

Last time, they stayed 3 1/2 weeks before heading home to Louisiana. They and the millions of others who had to head inland don't know how long they'll be away from home yet. Part of returning depends on the work done by linemen like Russell and Payne.

They'll work 12,16 even 18 hour days,for weeks until the job is done. Payne, who helped during the Katrina disaster, knows firsthand how appreciative people are to see them. He says it's a labor of love.

" We all know what it's like to be without power. We've all been through the ice storms. All the linemen , all their lights have been off too, one time or another."