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Hundreds of thousands of Iowans will be without power Tuesday night due to widespread damage from the derecho that passed through Monday.MidAmerican Energy and Alliant Energy report more than 300,000 customers combined that remain in the dark.Crews from both companies are working 24/7 to restore power across the state, but officials say some areas could be forced to wait days before their lights turn on.“This is the biggest storm we've seen,” said Cindy Tomlinson, with Alliant Energy. “This storm created damage beyond what we’ve ever seen before. And so, for those reasons it’s just … the damage in and of itself is gonna take some time to clear.” With so many downed trees and power lines, restoring power to customers is no easy task.First, power companies need to clear debris before they can assess the damage and repair the lines. MidAmerican said transmission and distribution centers were also affected by the storm.Tina Hoffman, with MidAmerican Energy, said thousands of workers across the country have been asked to come to Iowa to help. "Certainly, there are other utilities that have provided assistance in New York,” Hoffman said. “Some of those are actually returning to help in Iowa, and on top of that we have crews from Missouri, Kansas (and) Colorado that are already arriving and will continue to arrive to help us out."Both utility companies ask homeowners to be patient and understand that crews are doing the best they can to restore power.