ӣƵ is too often a fractured city: divided by race, neighborhood, political ideology — and the age-old question of where you went to high school. But it’s also a city that, in the face of multiple daunting problems, quickly rallies together around bright spots like, say, a winning hockey season.
ӣƵans this weekend have reminded ourselves that we’re also capable of coming together around hardship and tragedy, especially with the right leadership. The tornado and associated storms that ripped through our city on Friday, killing five people and wreaking destruction from the North Side through Forest Park, has already brought out the best in our citizenry. But the task isn’t nearly over.
The storm system that swept through the region on Friday afternoon included a tornado that touched down in Clayton. The damage throughout the region, but especially on ӣƵ’ North Side, is horrific. Mayor Cara Spencer said the number of damaged structures is around 5,000.
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They include buildings with roofs ripped off and brick walls collapsed, scattered into streets. The news of five deaths in the city may sound astonishing (how often do tornado deaths happen in built-up urban areas?), but one look at the damage and it’s amazing the death toll wasn’t higher.
The loss of human life is, of course, the primary tragedy of the storms, followed by the loss of homes and other property. But Forest Park, the city’s wooded gem, also sustained heartbreaking damage including the uprooting of countless massive, century-old trees.
Anyone walking among the leafy carnage in the park over the weekend or in various neighborhoods where trees have blocked streets and homes would have heard the sound of buzz saws echoing everywhere, clearing paths for cars and people and a return to something like normal life.
The quick response by City Hall under Spencer’s leadership to get a handle on the aftermath of the storms stands in stark contrast to the city’s anemic response to January’s snowstorms prior to Spencer’s assumption of power, barely a month ago. The jury is still out on the city’s overall performance and will be for some time, but initial indications are that ӣƵ’ government is functioning the way it’s supposed to under the strain of a rare challenge.
In a joint news conference Saturday morning, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe, a Republican, credited Democrat Spencer for quickly reaching out to him after the storms hit and “immediately providing leadership.” Kehoe himself deserves such credit as well, for rapidly mobilizing state services to his former hometown and for setting politics aside to work with city leaders.
But the real heroes to have emerged so far are regular ӣƵans who in the wake of devastation have stepped up. As the Post-Dispatch’s Michele Munz reports, hundreds of residents — some operating under civic organizations, others individually — are clearing downed trees and branches, handing out food and water and finding other ways to help their neighbors.
“Regardless of what you say about north ӣƵ, we are a community that sticks together,” resident Karen Gulley, 58, told Munz while assisting with cleanup. This is the kind of attitude — what Gov. Kehoe over the weekend called “that ӣƵ spirit” — that separates mere residency from citizenship.
(One important caveat to those hearty volunteers: Anything involving power lines or structurally compromised buildings should, of course, be given a wide berth and left to the experts.)
With ӣƵ still clearing streets and assessing damage and the injured still being treated, this isn’t the time to veer deeply into the politics of storm recovery. But given the urgency of getting resources to the affected neighborhoods, it must be noted that the Trump administration is attempting to gut funding to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and has dragged its feet in approving emergency disaster declarations around the country.
Kehoe on Saturday noted that Missouri is still awaiting word from the administration about disaster funding from storms that passed through in March and early April and will have to “work through” pushing for more now with help from the state’s congressional delegation.
Spencer on Sunday said she hasn’t been told why federal emergency response teams had not by then been deployed. By Monday afternoon, FEMA said it would deploy staffers to the region to begin assessing the damage, though it's still unclear what help, or when, would be on offer. If there was ever a time for all political leaders who represent the ӣƵ region to present a united, bipartisan front demanding federal help, this is it.
The city has opened shelters in response to the storm, including Friendly Temple Outreach Center (6356 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive); 12th & Park Recreation Center (1410 S. Tucker Blvd.); and Refresh Community Church (829 N. Hanley Road). Read the Post-Dispatch’s storm coverage for more details on where and how to offer donations or volunteer time.
