Dozens of lineworkers from Minnesota utilities are on their way to the Southeast U.S. to help restore power in the wake of Hurricane Helene. The Minnesota Rural Electric Association says 18 power cooperatives across the state are sending a total of 80 workers to the region for one to two weeks — and possibly longer. They will be working to repair outages for three co-ops in South Carolina. One of those co-ops reported 98 percent of its system down following the high winds and flooding. Xcel Energy says it has sent more than 100 employees from Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota and other states to help in the Southeast.

And the WNBA semifinals series between the Minnesota Lynx and the Connecticut Sun continues tonight in Connecticut. So far, the series is even with the Lynx losing one of their two games at home in Minneapolis.

This is an MPR News morning update, hosted by Phil Picardi. Music by Gary Meister.

Find these headlines and more at Mprnews.org.

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