EF1 tornado confirmed in Columbia after severe storms

COLUMBIA, Md. (FOX 5 DC) - The National Weather Service - Baltimore/Washington has confirmed an EF1 tornado touched down in Columbia Thursday during the evening's severe storms.

Howard County Fire and Rescue officials say they started getting calls about damage from the tornado around 3:40 p.m.

It left one street, Wayover Way, dotted with tree limbs and debris.

But a large tree toppling onto a home there left behind the most serious damage, splitting the home nearly in half. Neighbors tell FOX 5 several people were inside including a woman in her 70s and her son.

The woman was in her bedroom reading when the tree trapped her. Her son was able to pull her out and she was rushed to the hospital as a precaution.

"She was in her bedroom reading when the tree came through the house and he went in quickly and got her out. When she came out she had some scratches and she was covered in insulation from the house, so yeah. He saved her," said Deena Seifert.

She is expected to be okay, according to neighbors and a Howard County Fire and Rescue spokesman.