SPRINGFIELD – Fifteen emergency responders from Illinois are headed to New York City to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

Gov. Pat Quinn announced Thursday that 13 local emergency managers and two employees from the Illinois Emergency Management Agency were deployed. Quinn's office says the workers will help with operations and logistics in the city's emergency operations center. They'll be gone for two weeks, returning to Illinois on Nov. 16.

State officials said the deployment is the first from Illinois as part of the U.S.'s state-to-state mutual aid system.