Thousands of Mid-Missourians are without power this morning and people are assessing damage after a severe thunderstorm tore through the area late last night.
According to Columbia Fire Department Battalion Chief John Metz, a line of thunderstorms that came through Mid-Missouri around 11:30 last night caused significant damage. His department alone received more than 40 calls about storm damage between then and 1:30 this morning, with reports of utility lines down, tree damage and some damage to homes from falling trees.
Overnight, Columbia Water and Light reported more than 13,000 residents without power. As of 6:30 this morning that number dropped to just over 8,000 still without power according to Water and Light's online outage map. Most of the major outages this morning are on the west side of the city.
Ameren Missouri's outage map shows more than 2200 people without power in the Jefferson City and surrounding areas, including Wardsville, St. Martin's and Holt's Summit. There are also about 200 Ameren customers without power in both Boonville and Mexico.