Severe winds caused damage across Mid-Missouri on Friday night, while at least two tornadoes touched down in the eastern part of the state.
The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for a small portion of eastern Cole County and into Osage County around 6:30 p.m. Friday, but the area only saw damaging winds.
"We really dodged a bullet," Osage County Sheriff Mike Bonham said. "And I'm thankful that we did; I know there were several other counties that did not fare as well as ours."
Marshall Psahler, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said there were two confirmed tornado paths around Missouri -- one near the St. Louis metro area and one across the river in Edwardsville, Illinois.
The tornado in Edwardsville collapsed an Amazon facility, killing two people and trapping up to 50 at one point. The other tornado, which tore through St. Charles County, killed one and left thousands without power.
National Weather Service survey teams were in the area assessing damage Saturday morning, Psahler said, which could take anywhere from one to three days. Assessing damage helps indicate the strength of the tornado, which allows the National Weather Service to give it a ranking.
The National Weather Service will also be looking at other parts of the state in the coming days, he said.
"The thunderstorms were pretty widespread, so there's a pretty large area of damage reports that we got," Psahler said.
Psahler said wind damage reports were filed for Osage, Callaway and Boone counties, but there were no tornadoes reported in those areas Friday night or Saturday morning.
The damage is likely a result of straight line winds, he said, which are winds associated with thunderstorms, as opposed to winds displaying signs of tornado- like circulation.
Bonham said the Friday night storms ripped the roof off of a private residence across from the soccer fields along U.S. 63 and the roof off a hog barn, which blew onto County Road 503 and partially blocked the road.
The storms also knocked over several trees onto roadways, Bonham said, and smashed a trampoline into the side of a house.
As of Saturday morning, Bonham said authorities were conducting evaluations and trying to determine an associated cost for the damage. He's asking Osage County residents to report any damage they have to property, which will be added up to see if it meets the threshold for Gov. Mike Parson to declare a disaster area.
Bonham said he's thankful Osage County residents were prepared, as quick temperature changes cause December storms to be some of the worst.
"It just still amazes me how good of people we have in our county that pull together in times of crisis without even being asked," he said.
Nicholas Tietsort, Cole County emergency management director, said he thinks Cole County's response also went well, all things considered.
Following guidance from the National Weather Service, Cole County activated its emergency sirens to warn of the damaging storm.
"I know one of the residents I spoke to said that they heard the sirens go off, and that they actually heard the sirens about five minutes before they got damage to their property -- they had a tree split," Tietsort said. "That's pretty good. Five minutes gives you a lot of time to get to a safe spot, get to a basement or get to a low-lying area."
Tietsort surveyed damage Saturday morning around Cole County, and said it looks like the storm caused a lot of debris and fallen tree limbs, and knocked down three electric poles along East Bend Road.
Three Rivers Electric Cooperative repaired the poles and restored electricity to the area before 10 a.m. Saturday.
Friday's storms also tore a portion of the roof off a house in St. Thomas, Tietsort said, but no one was injured.
"It was quite busy," he said.
Tietsort said he's sure there is some damage that hasn't been reported yet, which will need to be factored into the eventual damage cost estimate.
Tietsort said he has sent photographs of damage to the National Weather Service, who should be in contact soon.