South Whidbey's hardest-hit area could be without power until Saturday



WHIDBEY ISLAND, Wash. -- Tuesday’s storm left a path of destruction all over South Whidbey. As of Thursday night, trees are still down on some streets, homes and power lines.

Richard Costello hasn’t had power since Tuesday.

“You can see how dark it is in here,” Costello said

The days are cold.

“No shower, I have no hot water,” Costello said.

The nights are even colder.

But just down the street on Crawford Road, there was the sound of progress.

Puget Sound Energy crews fanned out across at least 12 different sites in South Whidbey on Thursday to restore power to an area hardest hit by Tuesday’s windstorm.

“We had to cuddle on the same bed, it was crazy, it was freezing,” South Whidbey resident Brittney Jaeger said.

After more than 24 hours in the dark, Brittney’s family is beyond relieved to get their power back.

“Happy,” Josalynn Jaeger said.

They are grateful they have their power back but concerned about their neighbors who are still waiting.

“I feel really bad for them, really bad,” Brittney Jaeger said.

Robert Rorex says he had to shut down his chiropractic business for the past three days.

“When people don’t come here, I don’t get paid. I have a couple of employees and I have to take care of them anyway; that’s how it is, you know?” Rorex said.

Despite the hit, Rorex says he’s thankful for the PSE crews working around the clock.

Another thing Richard Costello is thankful for is a gas stove in times like this.

With 220,000 PSE customers without power at the height of the storm Tuesday night, crews have made a lot of progress. But the biggest challenge remains restoring the rural areas of South Whidbey.