The enormously destructive and deadly damage created by some of the most severe storms and tornados in St. Louis’ history (the last major tornado to hit the city struck on February 10, 1959 when 21 people were killed) last Friday, May 16, 2025, increases the already daunting challenges for a more revived future for the city.
The storms that struck from Clayton through Forest Park, ripped the Central West End, and caused devastation that completely decimated large swaths of North city that led to at least five deaths. The widespread damage on the Northside includes homes, schools, churches and businesses.
Despite our difficult situation here in St Louis, we have seen so many individuals and organizations come to offer their assistance. That is so encouraging because the controlling Republican Party in this state, with a few exceptions, often acts with disdain toward our city.
The actual response from the state has been slow up to now, but support from a Trump-led FEMA, which has already been gutted, is not encouraging based on its actions in response to disasters elsewhere in the country.
Moreover, the national media’s lack of attention for a disaster of this scale in a major city is disappointing because it would have helped bring more public awareness of the dire consequences of President Trump’s ill-advised plan to shift major disaster recovery responses to the states and their taxpayers.
This avowed position from Trump is in direct contradiction to his actions on behalf of aid for the annual hurricanes in Florida, a state he cares about for personal and political reasons. He was a critic of what then-President Biden’s administration was doing during hurricane Helene.
Similarly, he criticized Biden’s response to widespread flooding in western North Carolinas during the past presidential campaign in the hotly contested state. It is obvious that the Trump administration is highly selective in where they show concern.
We see them slow walk even in Red states like Mississippi and Arkansas where they didn’t get a declaration of disaster from a March 15, 2025, tornado outbreak until this May.
Despite our difficult situation here in St Louis, we have seen so many individuals and organizations come to offer their assistance.
That is so encouraging because the controlling Republican Party in this state, with a few exceptions, often acts with disdain toward our city.
That situation makes it almost unbelievable to see Sen. Josh Hawley, who was the first senator to announce plans to object to the certification of Joe Biden’s victory in 2020 and was seen apparently encouraging the crowd that was gathering to storm the Capitol on January 6, 2021, as an outspoken champion for ensuring that insurance companies act responsibly in their obligations to their policyholders.
He was able to persuade Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem to publicly promise to act promptly on the request from the Missouri governor for an emergency federal disaster declaration that would expedite the awarding of funds to help in the cleanup in the aftermath of the storms.
So, we commend Sen. Hawley, who has used his chairmanship of an influential sub-committee to defend Medicaid and to investigate seriously the practices of insurance companies and FEMA who he is asking to step up its response to the devastation of some St. Louis neighborhoods and act very quickly.
Yet, we know that we can’t expect the federal government to rebuild destroyed homes and businesses.