By NEWS-TIMES STAFF
The first major windstorm of the season left thousands of people on Whidbey Island without power as trees toppled over power lines.
A PSE spokesperson said Tuesday morning that 64,000 homes were affected by outages throughout the day and night. A total of 183 homes were still without power in the morning but were expected to get it back by 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Jonathan Pulley, Whidbey Island weather guru, clocked a 64 mph gust while Naval Air Station recorded wind at 65.6 mph.
South Whidbey schools were cancelled on Tuesday morning due to the outages. According to South Whidbey Fire/EMS Chief Nick Walsh, on Monday afternoon shortly before school let out, downed power lines on Maxwelton Road near Island Christian Academy and South Whidbey Elementary School caused kids to be evacuated and picked up by their parents at an alternate location.
North Whidbey Fire and Rescue responded to 14 wind-related calls on Monday, according to Fire Chief Chris Swiger. The calls reported trees falling on power lines and the roads, but luckily no one was injured and there was no damage to homes or property.
On Alamo Way, a tree knocked down a power line at about 12:20 p.m., blocking the dead end road and preventing a reporter from going to work. A group of neighbors, after making sure they were safe, cut the tree to pieces to facilitate repairs. The top of the tree, which broke from the rest, dangled from another power line over a home’s front yard for hours.
Central Whidbey also experienced its fair share of trees blocking roads and falling onto power lines. According to Division Chief Chris Geiger, the department received 12 tree-related calls on top of the regular emergency calls and was busy assisting Island County Public Works in removing the debris.
Oak Harbor Fire Department Lt. Ed Klaszky said his department also received six false-alarm calls from fire systems. The majority of storm related calls, however, were simply to report branches on the roadway. Overall, he said, the city did okay.
The Navy Seaplane Base experienced a significant power outage that impacted Maylor Point Housing, the Commissary and the Navy Exchange, according to Public Information Officer Mike Welding. The Commissary and Navy Exchange were closed early Monday afternoon for the remainder of the day. The base set up a warming center at the Officer’s Club for residents affected by the outage, he wrote in an email.
Some flight operations were cancelled due to high winds. At Ault Field, backup generators provided power shortly after the outage, Welding wrote.
Flickering power and surges caused havoc in Island County Superior Court Monday afternoon, further complicating things amid a systemwide outage of the state courts network.
