BATON ROUGE - Entergy reports it will send 100 people from Louisiana to Florida to assist as Florida declares a state of emergency ahead of the landfall of Tropical Storm Erika.

12 of the utility workers headed toward the Sunshine State come from the Baton Rouge area, and they are scheduled to depart at 5 a.m. Saturday.

Entergy crews will stage in Dayton Beach as the storm makes its way toward Miami. Once landfall occurs, workers will be dispatched to areas of Florida that are most affected by the storm. Should the damage be less than expected, they'll head back to Louisiana.

Entergy sees the opportunity to send crews to help out in Florida as a way to repay Florida based utility companies for the assistance they provided in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.