Hawaii's civil-defense director is emphatic in defending the state's decision to close its offices more than 12 hours before high winds that were forecast to hit our shores Friday morning - but never did. Taxpayers deserve to be told why today's instant means of communications could not have been used to advise city and state employees that a weaker-than-expected storm meant they could report to work Friday.

City and state officials gave no explanation of why they chose not to notify their employees that high winds were on the way and to check government Web sites or arrange to be notified by e-mail or text message in the morning on their cellular phones.

Maj. Gen. Robert Lee, head of civil defense, said his decision that nonessential state employees take the day off - creating a four-day weekend when combined with yesterday's Martin Luther King Day - was made shortly after 3 p.m. Thursday, when the National Weather Service issued the forecast. Winds as strong as 60 mph were predicted, but never materialized.

Mayor Mufi Hannemann issued a similar directive to city employees to protect “;the safety of our city work force.”; Teachers and school children were given Friday off.

Federal employees went to work Friday as normal, as did employees of private businesses. Professional golfers competed on schedule in the Sony Open at breezy but playable Waialae Country Club. (Play normally is stopped when the wind alone is enough to move a ball on a putting green, a test that was not even warranted.)

By 5 a.m. Friday, the heavy winds that were expected never reached ground, although Lee maintained that the gusts as strong as 49 mph were “;high enough in my book”; to justify the closures.