Tree branch was to blame for Langley blackout

A tree branch that fell into power lines along Langley Road caused a two-hour blackout for much of Langley on Sunday afternoon.

A tree branch that fell into power lines along Langley Road caused a two-hour blackout for much of Langley on Sunday afternoon.

“I thought it was a little weird,” said Melissa Philipson, who was minding the store at Sweet Mona’s chocolates and bakery on Second Street in downtown Langley when the power went out. “It wasn’t even stormy out.”

The outage began shortly after noon and lasted until about

2:20 p.m. It disrupted service to about 1,600 customers, Meghan Fitzpatrick, Puget Sound Energy spokeswoman, said Monday.

She said “very small” scattered outages effecting only a few customers each also occurred in other areas of South Whidbey on Sunday.

In downtown Langley, several businesses operated in the dark. The Star Store, however, fired up its backup generator and was doing a brisk business in the early afternoon.

But Philipson said other businesses, especially those serving food, called it a day.

“I was worried about the gelato in the freezer melting,” she said. “We just closed up, and I went straight home. The power was out there, too.”