Hartford — A crew of 13 Connecticut National Guardsmen are headed to Puerto Rico to help establish and maintain communications equipment that will be used in the ongoing recovery and response efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.

The hurricane left the entire island without power and also without water in most areas. It reportedly could take as long as six months to fully restore electricity.

Upon their arrival, the guardsmen — eight soldiers and five airmen — will set up Joint Incident Site Communication Capability equipment capable of connecting local, state and federal authorities together through voice, video and data communications, according to a news release from Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's office.

"Our office remains in consistent contact with Puerto Rican authorities and we will continue to provide whatever type of assistance we can during this time of emergency," Malloy said in a statement issued Tuesday.

The guardsmen are part of the Connecticut Air National Guard's 103rd Mission Support Group's Communications Flight, and the Connecticut Army National Guard's Charlie Company, 572nd Brigade Engineer Battalion.

This is the third Connecticut National Guard crew to deploy to the region. Two crews, each consisting of seven airmen, flew to the Caribbean on C-130H cargo planes to help deliver supplies to Puerto Rico and other nearby islands. One crew has returned to Connecticut while the the other is currently in Georgia waiting for potential missions.