Massive storm topples trees, interrupts high school choir concert in Liberty

LIBERTY, Mo. — KSHB 41 reporter Tod Palmer covers sports business and eastern Jackson County, including Independence. Share your story idea with Tod.

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A storm packing 75 mph winds swept through Liberty and the Northland on Tuesday night, toppling dozens of massive trees, damaging homes and vehicles, and forcing a Liberty High School choir concert to halt as students and their families scrambled for shelter.

The storm struck mid-performance after a thunderstorm warning morphed into a tornado warning, which led school officials to direct students and concert-goers into a storm shelter beneath the stage.

Kelly Schneikart was at the concert to hear her daughters sing and described how quickly the situation escalated.

"In the middle of one of the choirs, everyone's phones started going off with the thunderstorm warning," Schneikart said. "... Several minutes later, everyone's phones went back off with the tornado warning, and we all had to go underneath the stage in the orchestra pit.”

It made for a tense delay.

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"Half the kids were singing [and] there were some that were really worried about the storm, looking for their parents,” Schneikart said. “It was loud and chaotic.”

When Schneikart and her family returned home east of Liberty after the storm, they were stopped by storm debris that had to be removed from the road. More damage awaited at home.

"The neighbor called and asked if we had a trampoline, and she said, 'Well, it's across the field,'” Schneikart said. “When we got home, the net was draped over the driveway, and the trampoline was straddling the fence of the field. Our pool cover was inside the pool, but luckily everyone's safe. Nothing major, but definitely a little cleanup this morning.”

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Several miles away near Manor Hill Elementary School, a massive tree came down on a house, smashing a couple of cars in the driveway.

Across the street, another falling tree limb damaged the back of another house, pulled down a power line and landed on the neighbor’s house.

Such scenes were common around the school, where a crew was busy removing an ash tree that crashed into the empty parking lot overnight.

Alex Mullock — an arborist and the owner of A&M Tree Care, who helped remove the tree at Manor Hill — said the storm compounded damage that had been building throughout the year.

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"We're seeing quite a bit of damage today,” said Mullock, whose company received dozens of calls overnight. “It was a pretty strong storm last night. We've had a lot of other storms this year. It's been a pretty stormy year in the Northland, so a lot of the weaker things had already been taken out. But this one really hit some of those trees that have experienced that damage throughout the year, and then this one just kind of finished them off.”

The damage wasn’t limited to Liberty.

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"We had a lot in Parkville and Liberty, some in Gladstone — kind of through that whole stretch that we've been experiencing this morning," Mullock said.

Despite the widespread destruction, the neighborhood came together to help clean up.

Jason Phillips, who recently moved back to Kansas City after two decades in Arizona, grew up near Manor Hill Elementary School. He came to the neighborhood to check on his mother and clean up some debris in her yard. He said residents wasted no time checking on one another.

"There still seems to be a sense of community here, so people are checking on each other,” Phillips said. “I drove through early in the morning. People were out. We had brief conversations, making sure everybody was OK."

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He said his own household came through the storm safely.

"We were fine — Missouri natives, used to it,” Phillips said. “[We got in the] storm shelter, went downstairs and everything was fine. Rode it out.”

Fortunately, there are no reports of any serious injuries from the storm.

There was almost a happy ending at Liberty High School. The choir concert began to resume after the storm, but a fire curtain malfunctioned as power was restored.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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