Strong storms spawn tornado, damage in Mid-Missouri

The National Weather Service confirmed a tornado touch down Saturday evening in Saline County, near Marshall.

Viewer reports indicated the northern part of the city had more damage than areas farther south.

An ABC 17 News crew report a barn collapsed on Highway 240 and many trees were down in the area.

Across the area, viewers reported golf ball-sized hail and heavy rains.

In Columbia, nearly 2,000 people lost power around 9 p.m. across the city. The worst areas hit were along U.S. 63 to the east and Scott Boulevard to the west.

Another ABC 17 News crew found a tree that had fallen onto a house on Highridge Circle, just off Stadium Boulevard in Columbia.

Traffic was blocked late into the night because of a downed tree at Worley and Fairview. Several other large trees were reported down throughout the city on Saturday night.

A supercell storm moved through the area after it dropped a tornado in Orrick, Missouri earlier Saturday. Emergency responders in that city reported widespread damage and investigators had closed the town off to traffic late that night.

Stay with ABC 17 Stormtrack Weather and abc17news.com for updates on this developing story.