Light winds, weather still mellow on Whidbey

Any damage or disruptions to power or travel because of the expected gale force winds on Whidbey Island have yet to happen.

There have not been any cancellations to the Port Townsend-Keystone (Coupeville) ferry route. Wind speeds are expected to increase later today, at which point any ferry sailing disruptions will be determined by the captain.

"If they see something that they feel is not safe or it's too rough for passenger comfort, they won't go," said Washington State Ferries spokeswoman Susan Harris-Huether.

"Depending on the winds, we'll cancel sailings as it concerns safety or passenger comfort."

The lights are still working on South Whidbey. As of early Friday morning, when the high wind warning was projected to begin at 10 a.m., no power outages were reported on the South End.

"We've been watching it really close, but there isn't even a watch for Island County yet," said Debbie Scoles, a Puget Sound Energy employee at the company's Freeland office. "Until that happens, there's nothing we can do."

"As soon as we get a warning or a watch, we'll have folks standing by to take calls or be out there helping."

The main office at Puget Sound Energy also had not responded to power outages on the South End.

Allison Stanford, a PSE spokeswoman, said 50 crews of at least two people each were dispersed throughout the company's service area and were on alert.

"Our service crews and our systems operators are keeping an eye on the weather and are ready to respond," Stanford said.

Before noon, winds were mild with the strongest gust measured at 14 miles per hour in Greenbank.

Contact South Whidbey Record Sports, South Whidbey School District, South Whidbey Fire/EMS Ben Watanabe at bwatanabe@whidbeynewsgroup.com or 360-221-5300.

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