St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer placed the head of the city’s emergency management agency on paid leave Tuesday following the failure to activate tornado warning sirens on Friday.
Spencer put CEMA Commissioner Sarah Russell on paid administrative leave pending an external investigation into the actions of the emergency management agency when a deadly tornado ripped through the city, according to a statement the city released late Tuesday.
“CEMA exists, in large part, to alert the public to dangers caused by severe weather, and the office failed to do that in the most horrific and deadly storm our city has seen in my lifetime,” Spencer said in a statement. “Commissioner Russell has served our city for years and is a person of good will, but I cannot move on from this without providing accountability and ensuring that our emergency management is in trusted hands.”
Friday afternoon, CEMA staff, including Russell, were at an offsite workshop, and when a tornado warning was issued by the National Weather Service, Russell or other CEMA staff could not activate the siren. Russell then contacted the fire department, according to the statement from the mayor’s office.
But Spencer called Russell’s instruction to activate the sirens “ambiguous.”
The devastating EF3 tornado killed five people, damaged more than 4,440 buildings and caused at least $1 billion in property damage.
Fire Department Capt. John Walk will lead CEMA until the city finds a permanent commissioner.
Spencer issued an executive order Tuesday morning to overhaul the siren activation protocol, making the fire department alone responsible for activating the siren at an office that is staffed at all times.
“The failure to activate the siren during a tornado has rightfully angered St. Louisans, including myself,” Spencer said. “While my first priority on this issue was to make sure this can never happen again, our community deserves full transparency and accountability.”
The button to activate the siren system at the fire department did not work during a test on Tuesday. Instead, the department activated the system at the CEMA office, the mayor said. Until the button is repaired, a member of the fire department will be at CEMA 24 hours a day to activate the system.
Spencer is expected to provide more information about the external investigation at a press briefing Wednesday morning.
