The storm front over the Chaparral Motel as it moved through Arcola enroute to Carlyle. (Photo by Dawn M. Barker)A severe storm swept through southern Saskatchewan Thursday night, bringing with it at least two tornadoes, Environment Canada says.

A tornado in the Dafoe-Kandahar area, about 150 kilometres north of Regina, wreaked havoc at the farm of Richard Brooks, who was not home at the time but returned to find the place turned upside down.

"It's quite a mess," Brooks told CBC News Friday. "The house was more or less demolished, and the barn and the granaries."

Although the farmyard was hit hard, Brooks said his crops were spared the hail that damaged many other farms in the region.

"We don't have any granaries [left], but we do have the crops," he said.

The community of Carlyle, in the southeast corner of the province, was also hit by high winds and heavy rains Thursday night.The streets of Carlyle were littered with debris after Thursday's storm. (CBC)

Carlyle fire Chief Trent Lee said the storm blew the roofs off some buildings, knocked over trees and power poles, snapping power lines, and overturned several camper trailers.

"You could hardly see [because] the rain was coming down so hard," Lee said.

The storm also caused a natural gas leak, and about 150 homes were temporarily evacuated in the middle of all the mayhem, he said. Once the leak was fixed, residents were allowed to return.

"There is extensive damage through the whole town," he said.

Carlyle resident Connie Thomas and her family had just returned home after celebrating their 26th wedding anniversary when the storm reached its full fury.Carlyle resident Connie Thomas starts cleaning up after a tree fell on her home. (CBC)

They heard a loud crack, and then a large tree in their yard fell on top of their house, she said. They ran to the other side and got outside.

Carlyle was one of 18 communities that lost power for periods during the storm, SaskPower reported. Others affected were Yorkton, Weyburn, Biggar, Swift Current, Melfort, Tisdale and Carrot River.

Several buildings in Yorkton were also damaged by the storm, although Environment Canada is not sure whether it was a tornado or a plough wind that battered the city.

The southwestern town of Maple Creek also got pummelled by hail and wind during Thursday's storm.

Town administrator Mark Caswell said the marble-sized hailstones rained down on the town for 10 to 15 minutes.

It was the worst storm to hit the Maple Creek area in a decade, he said.