St. Louis recently received millions in funding through the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help remove tornado debris from private property. There is no set date yet for the debris removal to begin, but city officials are asking homeowners to start preparing now.
Residents should work on handling any issues with title clearances or deeds before private property debris removal begins, said Julian Nicks, St. Louis’ chief recovery officer.
“A prerequisite for us to be able to come on any property is that the title needs to be in your name,” he said. “ We know that's been an issue because it's been an issue with people getting FEMA aid as well.”
Homeowners should also gather insurance paperwork for any properties they want cleared. People who may still have pertinent homeowner documents inside of residences with a yellow or red tag can contact the city’s Recorder of Deeds office or Legal Services of Eastern Missouri for help with replacing destroyed documents.
“A yellow tag is not supposed to be structurally compromised, so those should be okay, but those were quick inspections, so we still tell people to proceed with caution, and the best safe bet is to always have a structural engineer or someone come look at the facility before they step into it,” Nicks said. “For a red tag, unfortunately, our advice is to stay out and wait till there's someone there who can demo the property or make it structurally safe for them to enter.”
Once private property debris removal contracts are in place, city officials will offer a way for homeowners to sign up for the removal or demolition process.
City crews are still working through emergency demolition requests for structures that are cascading onto other properties. If there are homes that need emergency attention, owners can reach out to 3-1-1 for more information. Nicks said voluntary demolitions will begin when city officials meet with state officials about the process, but he hopes they will start sometime this fall.
Earlier this month, St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer announced that the city will use the remaining $12 million of Rams settlement interest funds to help people recover from the catastrophic storm.
Officials also committed city crews beginning Sept. 2 to picking up leftover debris from alleys and street curbs in areas hit by the tornado. The first pass ran through Sept. 20, but public property debris removal could last through mid-October.
Spencer said her office is working to help get affected residents safe housing ahead of the colder months.
“My vision for right now is to make sure that everyone who's in a compromised living home of some kind has a place to live safely through this winter,” she said at a press conference earlier this month.
Nicks said the city plans to remove private property debris throughout the winter.
“The one thing we want to give is reinsurance that we are invested in making sure all debris is removed (from) these communities,” Nicks said. “We know that it's both a sign that we're planning to invest in rebuilding, but we also know it is both critical for hope and safety, and so we're invested in that process and moving that work along as fast as we can within the broader systems that we're operating in.”
