The storm season came in like a lion on Whidbey Island this week. Winds gusted up to 60 miles per hour Monday, causing power outages, and a light dusting of snow fell on North Whidbey Wednesday night.

Emergency preparedness officials on the island hope the onslaught will serve as an early warning for residents. The officials are a little worried about the possibility of a perfect storm of bad weather in a La Nina year and county budget cuts leaving residents out in the cold.

Mike Simmons, an emergency manager for the county, said Whidbey residents, especially those living in rural areas and on South Whidbey, should be prepared for longer power outages this season.

“In the county, people should be prepared to be without power for probably seven days,” he said. “In a really extreme event, it could be more than a week. We’ve had them.”

Ted Buehner at the National Weather Service in Seattle explained that La Nina is characterized by cooler than normal temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific Ocean. For the Puget Sound region, that translates to an increased likelihood of colder and wetter weather and more frequent storms.

“We will likely have a much more active winter weather season than last year,” he said, but stressed that last year was unusually mild.

Mother Nature’s benevolence toward Whidbey in recent storm seasons has Island County Public Works Director Bill Oakes a little worried that people won’t be ready when the power goes out.

“I’ve found that people’s memories run about two years and it’s been two years since we’ve had a major outage,” Oakes told the county commissioners early this year.

Also, Oakes said his staffing is down about 15 percent from what it was in 2008. There are fewer people in the road shops to respond to emergencies like fallen trees on power lines, which is a common cause of outages. And that may mean folks will have to wait longer for restored service.

The public works department met with officials from Puget Sound Energy and the National Weather Service prior to the storm season to plan for the eventualities. Oakes said the road shops have geared up for winter.

Simmons explained that Island County is actually a pretty safe county, compared to its neighbors. There’s no worries about avalanches or exploding trains full of chemicals. The main emergencies to prepare for, he said, are windstorms and earthquakes. In either case, one of the top concerns is knocked-out power and telephones.

“Only infrequently do we have snow that paralyzes the island. Maybe once every 10 years,” he said.

Being prepared doesn’t have to be a big or expensive undertaking, though Simmons strongly suggests that some people consider buying a generator. He said most people already keep enough food in their homes for a week.

Water is a little harder to store. Emergency planners recommend keeping about a gallon per person per day on hand. But he points out that most people have hot water heaters that hold 40 to 50 gallons.

“It’s really a matter of being organized so you’re able to find what you need,” he said.

Simmons also stresses the importance of safety. Every year people die from carbon monoxide poisoning when they try to heat their homes by bringing things like barbecue grill, kerosene heaters or generators indoors. Remember, he said, anything that burns will give off carbon monoxide.

“Generators can be a good thing to have, but you have to know how to use them,” he said.