The May 16 tornado that tore through St. Louis caused at least $1 billion in property damage, according to initial estimates by the city assessor’s office. More than 10,000 buildings in the tornado’s path sustained damage.
“We saw a lot of structural damage, partially collapsed buildings, leaning buildings, chimneys ready to fall [and] downed power lines,” said St. Louis Building Commissioner Ed Ware. “We knew we had a huge task ahead of us.”
To evaluate the damage in a timely manner, the city invited Missouri SAVE Coalition volunteers to join the assessment effort. About 80 engineers, architects and building officials joined city inspectors to survey the damage and place safety assessment tags on homes and buildings. Ware said it was the coalition's largest deployment ever to St. Louis.
In the days that followed, affected city residents began seeing the tags affixed to their front doors. The stickers came in three colors: green, yellow, and red — signifying the amount of damage to the structure. Buildings with severe damage received a red placard, buildings that safely allowed for limited access got a yellow one, and those with minor to no damage at all received a green tag.
Some of the red stickers cautioned: “Danger: Entry Prohibited: Violators subject to prosecution.” The language contradicted what is included on the city’s website, which states that St. Louis “will not penalize or charge individuals for entry.”
Ware said the confusion stems from the fact that some of the stickers used in the initial response were tags printed up for an earthquake drill years ago.
“We felt the need to get out there right away, and we used those old stickers just to start the evaluation process. As we went on, these stickers were reevaluated and modified to fit the needs of a tornado, because the original stickers talked about aftershocks and everything else like that,” he said. “So it did cause some confusion, but we've moved quickly to correct all of that.”
Ware added that the city is not enacting any legal condemnations or orders for people to leave their homes.
“We're not evicting you from your home. You were victimized once; we don't want to do it again,” said Building Inspection Manager Tim Jeffries. “What [we’re] doing is telling [residents] it's an unsafe structure — it's not safe to really be in there — because without the placards, they don't know how much damage [there is] or how bad the damage would be. And that's where, you know, maybe FEMA kicks in with money.”
The evaluation process is ongoing, with more buildings receiving assessments each day.
For residents who would like to request a reevaluation of their home, Ware advised calling the Citizens’ Service Bureau: 314-622-4800.
On Wednesday’s St. Louis on the Air, Jeffries acknowledged that many residents in homes with red or yellow placards are still without power. If, for instance, their roofs are not watertight, they will need to take steps to mitigate the damage. Next, they’ll need to call the building division, which will send an inspector out. If the inspector gives the green light, homes with red stickers would downgrade to a yellow or green tag. Then, residents will need to follow up with an electrical inspector. After that, they can work with their utility provider to get their power turned back on.
Ware said the St. Louis Building Division will waive all fees associated with permits for residents affected by the tornado.
“We're trying to work through all of this. We're trying to be flexible. We're trying to help people,” he said. “This is something nobody's ever went through before.”
To hear more from St. Louis Building Division Commissioner Ed Ware and Building Inspection Manager Tim Jeffries, listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube, or click the play button below.
The episode also includes a conversation with Tenants Transforming Greater St. Louis about the challenges faced by renters who are displaced from the tornado.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Darrious Varner is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
