‘It scared the you-know-what out of me’: Wind rips off part of KIRO reporter’s SUV
Dec 17, 2025, 4:30 PM
The wind ripped off part of KIRO Newradio reporter Luke Duecy's SUV Wednesday. (Photo: Luke Duecy, KIRO Newsradio)
(Photo: Luke Duecy, KIRO Newsradio)
A KIRO Newsradio reporter got a bit of a jolt while covering the aftermath of Wednesday morning’s windstorm that left hundreds of thousands of customers without power across the state.
“It scared the you-know-what out of me,” KIRO Newsradio reporter Luke Duecy said.
Duecy was driving along Interstate 5 through Marysville.
“I’m in an SUV and all of a sudden this massive gust of wind came, and I heard something, and thought like some debris hit me or something,” Duecy said. “And then later on I found out that the wind got underneath my plastic fender over my tire well and just ripped it right off.”
Duecy was okay, just a little shaken up.
RELATED STORIES
Massive windstorm cuts power to thousands in WA
Duecy was covering the powerful windstorm that swept through western Washington early Tuesday, leaving hundreds of thousands of residents without power and scattering debris across roadways from Skagit County to Snohomish County.
Along Highway 9 between Concrete and Lake Stevens, limbs and debris littered the roadway, with conditions deteriorating along the way.
In at least one Lake Stevens neighborhood, homes were dark. Inflatable Christmas decorations — Santas and other holiday characters — lay deflated and wilted on front lawns, a telltale sign the power had gone out.
“We woke up around 2:20 to extremely high winds in the morning,” Lake Stevens resident Eric told KIRO Newsradio. “We opened the window and looked out, and we watched it go out at 2-something. We saw the flashes in the sky.”
Whidbey Island had nearly lost power entirely at one point during the morning, while thousands of customers across Snohomish County remained without electricity.
Frank Lenzi is the News Director for KIRO Newsradio. Read more of his stories here.
