With thousands of Texans homeless, millions without power and at least eight dead, herds of Long Island volunteers and National Guard members will rush to the storm-ravaged region.

?We launched out to help recover people with the rescue effort down in Galveston,? says Col. Rob Landsiedel, of the 106 Rescue Wing based in Westhampton Beach.

Landsiedel and his fellow Guard members weren?t idle for long, as he says a man on the roof of a flooded home started signaling for help.

?We had one of the home members frantically waving,? he says. ?His father apparently was in dire medical need. So we were able to get his father into the helicopter and brought him to a triage area.?

In the meantime, other Long Islanders are heading to Texas ? to help in another way.

?They got hammered, you've got three million people without power there,? says LIPA CEO Kevin Law. Twenty-five crews of LIPA contractors are heading to Texas to help get the power running again.

?One, it's the right thing to do, as Americans, when there are tragedies in other parts of our country we need to assist them,? Law says. ?Number two, it's good training for our crews to be part of a major restoration effort. And number three, someday, we're going to get hit on Long Island.?

He says LIPA will be reimbursed by the utilities in Texas.

Another group from Long Island is also helping. The North Shore Animal League of America is sending people down to help with lost animals.