It’s been more than 48 hours since a tornado touched down in Clayton and tore a path of destruction at least 8 miles long. Here is the latest information we have on the storm’s impact.
The damage done
St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer said the city assessor’s office estimates there was at least $1 billion in property damage. Of the 5,000 buildings in the tornado’s path, at least 4,400 sustained some damage, said Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson.
“That does not even begin to account for the personal, human toll that this has taken in our community,” Spencer said on Sunday.
Spencer urged residents to be patient as the city works to get a federal disaster declaration, which would free up federal funding for recovery.
“It is not a short process. We have begun our part,” she said. “We are working with state and federal partners on that, and we will continue to press that. We are working relentlessly to get that declaration.”
Officials with Ameren said that as of noon Sunday, about 36,000 customers in the city remained without power. At the storm’s peak, more than 100,000 were without power statewide.
But restoring service to those remaining customers will be a heavy lift, even with 1,900 workers onsite. Nearly 300 power poles are down as a result of the storm.
“This is a very devastating site,” said Landy Wince, Ameren’s senior director of regional operations. “We will be working into the week restoring some of the harder-hit areas. It's just difficult to get to them.”
The storm caused damage to several St. Louis Public Schools buildings. District officials spent the weekend assessing the schools. As of mid-afternoon Sunday, there was no word on whether students at the affected schools would attend classes elsewhere.
The Clayton School District will be closed Monday due to damage to its buildings, though sports practices will go on at alternative sites.
More severe weather ahead
Officials and forecasters are keeping a wary eye on the skies as more severe weather is in the forecast for Monday afternoon into the evening. The National Weather Service says all hazards, including hail, strong winds and even a tornado or two, are possible.
Volunteers were out Sunday with tarps and two-by-fours, trying to shore up as many buildings as possible and protect the belongings inside. But many of them still won’t be safe places to shelter during severe weather.
“Make sure, while the sun is out, that you find … a place that you can get to and have a plan to get there,” said Sarah Russell, commissioner of the City Emergency Management Agency. “Whether it's your local church or other facility in the community or a loved one's house, make sure that you have somewhere to quickly take shelter.”
Russell urged people to have multiple ways to receive severe weather warnings, even without power.
Spencer said she expects to release a report Tuesday on whether outdoor warning sirens sounded as expected during the storm.
“It is an issue we are taking very seriously,” she said. “It is important to understand what happened there, and it is important to get to the bottom of it.”
Red Cross seeks another shelter
St. Louis Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Tracy said a curfew will remain in effect from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. in areas north of Forest Park and west of Vandeventer until further notice. He said officers had not issued any violations, and there had been no reports of looting.
LaKricia Cox, executive director of the American Red Cross of Greater St. Louis, said the agency was looking for space to open a fourth overnight shelter.
“We couldn't get closer into the city like we wanted to, because we didn't have access to power for a lot of the target locations that we wanted,” Cox said, adding that the agency had been able to secure transportation to get people to the available shelters.
