Volunteers help tornado hit St. Louis while they wait for federal aid

Volunteers help tornado hit St. Louis while they wait for federal aid

Kevin Hines has been living in a roofless house in the days since a tornado hit. He saw some of his neighbors sleeping in their cars. Another man spent hours on a bench.

After the May 16 tornado, 60-year-old Hines has a blue tarp covering his home. Still, three days later, rain came — an expected problem in a house without a roof. But he didn't think wildlife would be a problem. Then a bird landed in his television. He spotted a squirrel on the sofa.

He already has enough to handle. He's not sure when his house will be repaired. A fallen tree destroyed the purple Jeep he bought months ago. His job asked employees not to come to work because the building was damaged.

The tornado cut a 23-mile path and touched down in the affluent suburb of Clayton, Missouri, before ripping through the north side of the city of St. Louis and then across the Mississippi River through communities in western Illinois. At least five people were killed, 38 others were injured and about 5,000 structures were damaged, according to St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer. The twister caused estimated property damage of more than $1.6 billion.

While the impact has been felt across the region, some neighborhoods will take longer than others to recover. Kayla Reed, a community activist who leads the Action nonprofit organization that coordinates for storm victims, said residents of what is known as North City in particular face a number of challenges in the coming days.

“A natural disaster struck, a created one, and a systemic one,” Reed said. "They've been in a long-term storm their whole lives. If you live in this footprint, you know that this is where infant mortality is highest. This is where incarceration rates are highest. This is where poverty rates are highest."

Food and water assistance are providing some relief, Reed said, but the community needs more than that. "I can't put into words how long it will take to stabilize some of these families and how much trauma they are navigating," she said.

One potential source of major help is the federal government, which can unlock resources at the president's discretion. But Missouri is already waiting for President Donald Trump to approve federal aid for damage from three storms in March and April that killed 19 people in the state. Trump has denied major disaster requests from West Virginia and Washington this year, initially denying one for storm and tornado damage in Arkansas before reversing course and approving the request on May 13.

Black families here in North St. Louis fear their community is not being prioritized.

On May 19, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe, a Republican, demanded that Trump issue a federal declaration that would authorize about $5 million in federal aid for the cleanup effort. Kehoe also called for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to conduct a preliminary damage assessment, a necessary step toward securing a "major disaster declaration" that would provide federal resources to homeowners and renters, reimburse local government efforts and pay for damaged public infrastructure.

FEMA was on site two days later to conduct damage assessments. But a disaster declaration could take weeks if it comes.

“Bringing in FEMA, it is my understanding, is not going to be a quick process,” the mayor said at a May 21 news conference. “All elected officials at every level here are doing everything they can to make this process as quick as possible.”

That includes Republican U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, who during a May 20 hearing asked Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to expedite pending requests for aid from Missouri's three previous storms and for the most recent tornado. “Yes, absolutely,” she replied.

As the city waits, thousands of volunteers have shown up in the parking lot of the YMCA's O'Fallon Park Rec complex in North St. Louis. So far they have helped more than 5,000 families. According to Action St. Louis, volunteers collected more than 17,280 pounds of food.

The last time such an outpouring occurred here, according to locals, was in 2014, after police killed Michael Brown in nearby Ferguson. Rasheen Aldridge, a stadium representative who represents part of the storm-hit area, said some of the same activists who showed up then made it a point to help now.

Hines also looked for ways to help his neighbors. He became an unofficial transportation director at the YMCA as thousands of cars flocked to the area seeking — or providing — help.

“It’s not about me,” Hines said. "I stay until no one is here because there is nothing to do in my house. I have no power."

Residents in Nordstadt described the moments after the storm as chaos: trees down everywhere; power lines damaged; Limited cell phone service making it difficult to connect with loved ones. Then the sun went down and the city fell into complete darkness.

Five days after the tornado, people still needed candles, flashlights and batteries to get through the night. Piles of rubble filled street corners. Exterior walls were torn away from homes, exposing the insides of closets, bedrooms and living rooms to passersby on the street. Some buildings were leveled. The downed trees in the tornado's path left a scar in the city's canopy visible from miles away.

The tornado flipped a SemitRailer in front of a new gas station and shopping center planned for the fall. One evening, Charles Stanford, a security guard at the property, sat in the parking lot to make sure no one tried to enter what was left of the building. Stanford said the project was nearly complete. Now it is surrounded by rubble and rubble.

A huge tree fell into the home of one of Hines' neighbors. He said the woman recently had heart surgery and was recovering at home. But then she went back to the hospital and he thinks stress after the tornado is the reason why. Hines planned to bring her some Hershey's Kisses, her favorite candy, to lift her spirits.

52-year-old Shannette Boclair said she asked her father Albert Noble to sit in the fetal position on a window that had imploded and strong winds knocked him down. Boclair called 911 but, she said, first responders were overwhelmed by help after help and tree-blocked roads. Her father needed immediate medical attention, she said, and his family helped him limp a mile to his grandson, who drove him to a triage station that had been set up for tornado victims.

They learned he had broken his hip, she said. He was operated on within a few days.

Boclair, who works as a health and wellness director at the YMCA, said she is helping care for her mother, who stayed home after the storm. Boclair relies on meals provided by YMCA volunteers and staff, but said she has also spent about $500 on Doordash meals to feed her family since the tornado.

As for federal aid, Boclair said she hopes it comes soon. The community needs dumpsters for the debris, reconstruction and more.

But the support of volunteers amazed her. The people's reaction attracted so many volunteers that cars were barred from the YMCA parking lot in Nordstadt. The smell of barbecue wafted through the air as residents, without electricity, grilled each other before feasting.

“I am so proud of our community,” Boclair said. "They say we don't care. We'll take care of it."

Reed said volunteers will be stationed in the YMCA parking lot for a few more days. But she said that doesn't mean the job ends there. The community will need more help to rebuild.

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