Several would-be fliers found themselves unable to return to northern destinations Monday because of flight cancellations, while teams of people eager to help those in the path of Hurricane Sandy set out to various northern locations.

By about 8 p.m. Monday the Myrtle Beach International Airport was virtually empty. Several flights had been canceled earlier in the day.

Kirk Lovell, marketing director at the airport, said flight cancellations and delays related to the storm began early in the day, leading to no flights at the airport hours earlier than normal.

Dennis Zielke has plans to fly to Detroit on Tuesday. He was at the airport checking on his ticket Monday evening, and said he’s hopeful he will be able to fly on Tuesday.

Lovell said customers should check with their airlines about the status of their flights.

Meanwhile, crews from Horry Electric Cooperative headed to Virginia ready to help restore power that might be lost from Hurricane Sandy.

About 10 workers and five trucks left Monday morning headed to Crewe, Va., to help Southside Electric Cooperative, which has 54,000 meters in parts of 18 counties, six towns and one city in south central Virginia, said Penelope Hinson, spokeswoman for Horry Electric Cooperative.

The crews could be gone for as long as two weeks, she said.

“It just depends on the amount of damage,” Hinson said. “This is a huge storm.”

Horry Electric has helped the Virginia power supplier after previous storms, she said.

Horry Electric is one of 15 electric cooperatives from South Carolina headed to Virginia, according to The Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina. About 108 electric cooperatives workers had been sent as of Monday afternoon. Others in South Carolina went to New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

“This is a major mobilization of personnel on our part,” Todd Carter, vice president of loss control and training at The Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina, said in a news release.

“In terms of storm assistance, this is the largest number of workers we’ve sent out-of-state in recent memory.”

The cooperatives will send more crews if needed, Carter said.

The local American Red Cross also has sent volunteers to the Northeast.

Nanci Conley, executive director of the Coastal South Carolina Chapter of the American Red Cross said, “We have massive response effort going on.” She said anyone interested in helping with that effort can make a donation to the organization.

Kenneth A. Gailliard contributed to this report.

Contact DAWN BRYANT at 626-0296 or at dbryant@thesunnews.com or follow her at Twitter.com/TSN_dawnbryant.