It seems inappropriate to mourn for a place, rather than people. I suppose it's fair to say, in this case, I mourn for both the place and its people. I don't live in the city proper, but I've spent my entire life (other than when I was away at college and law school) in and around the City of St. Louis. My father grew up there. When I was young, my grandparents still lived there. My entire adult life was spent working there until three years ago.
All of the big events happened there: the big sporting events, concerts, street fests, 4th of July fireworks under the iconic Arch, some of the best restaurants, going out to the clubs in my long-ago younger days. Forest Park, our own gorgeous expanse of green space and history, is where I've enjoyed the Zoo, the Jewel Box, countless shows at The Muny, seasons of co-ed softball, and where I used to run and bike back when I was a triathlete.
I love my city, even while I've grown weary with its bad governance and increasingly heartbroken by its decay. The fact is, it's been in a downward spiral for years.
Perhaps nothing so epitomizes that as the fact that last Friday, as an EF-3 took direct aim at the city, its tornado sirens failed to sound. Five people were killed and dozens injured in the wake of the tornado's destruction. And while there's no way to say for certain that the sirens could have saved them, it certainly leaves ample room to wonder.
RedState's @SmoosieQ was on the ground.
— RedState (@RedState) May 20, 2025
Whole trees uprooted. Homes, vehicles, roads destroyed. pic.twitter.com/VHpkQzheTS
The truth of the matter is that the track of that storm and the speed with which it intensified caught even those of us who were monitoring the weather closely that afternoon by surprise. At a minimum, the sirens give people a chance to seek better shelter. But St. Louisans were denied that chance on Friday.
So what happened? The short answer is that the person(s) responsible for pushing the button to sound the alarm at the City Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) were out of the office at a meeting when the storm hit. And the theoretical backup — the fire department — doesn't appear to have been notified that they needed to sound the alarm. (And, as it turns out, wouldn't have been able to even had they been notified because the alarm on their end of things wasn't functional.) You might say it was a perfect storm.
In a release, Spencer’s office says CEMA staff, including [CEMA Commissioner Sarah] Russell, were at a workshop on Market Street and not at the CEMA office located on Olive, where the siren activation button is located. Spencer’s office says Russell then contacted the fire department.
“We have systemic failure across so many systems here,” Mayor Spencer said.
City officials say there was then a breakdown in communication, with the directive to activate the sirens being vague. Spencer’s office says the standard procedure appears to have been drafted by Russell in 2021, but may never have been fully implemented.
“My takeaway was that the direction was not clear. It did not direct the person on the other end to press the fire button and it’s my understanding the button was not pushed,” Mayor Spencer said.
The fire department on Tuesday tested the siren activation button at the fire station. Through the test, it was learned that the button located at the fire department was not working, and the fire department instead activated the button from the CEMA office.
The mayor did make it clear that the buttons at the fire department and in the CEMA office were both CEMA’s responsibility to maintain.
Mayor Spencer said part of the investigation is to see how long it hasn’t worked for and if anyone was aware it was broken.
“I have been shocked and I remain shocked and frankly a bit horrified by the issues in the system,” Mayor Spencer said.
It should be noted that Spencer only recently took office, having been elected on April 8, 2025, defeating incumbent Mayor Tishaura Jones.
On Monday, following an earlier press conference that I attended and reported on, Spencer again addressed the media, acknowledged that the sirens not being activated was due to human failure, and took responsibility for ensuring that going forward, there would be a clearcut protocol and the fire department, which is staffed 24/7, would be responsible for activating the sirens.
St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer said there was a "failure in protocol" for the activation of sirens during Friday's tornado warning. #StLouis #STL #StLouisWeather #STLWX #FirstAlert4 #FirstAlertWeather pic.twitter.com/7Ajg5p4Cdx
— KMOV (@KMOV) May 19, 2025
CEMA Commissioner Sarah Russell, who authored the prior activation protocol in 2021 and whose responsibility it was to ensure the sirens were activated at the CEMA office, has been placed on paid administrative leave pending an external investigation.
This is St. Louis CEMA Commissioner.
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) May 22, 2025
As a tornado with 152mph winds arrived, Sarah (they/them) and her staff was not available to activate the tornado siren.
5 kiIIed, 38 injured. pic.twitter.com/qTXYR5JDR6
While scrutiny directed at Russell and the CEMA failures is certainly warranted, there are broader, systemic issues that are part and parcel of a city that has been failed by its leaders over and over. (And yes, those leaders are almost exclusively Democrats — the city last had a Republican mayor in 1947.)
Former Mayor Jones took the opportunity to throw shade at her successor, insisting the sirens "went off on 314 day" (March 14), when storms also rolled through the area.
Tishaura Jones uses the occasion of 5 tragic St. Louis-area tornado deaths in an incredibly lame attempt to score political points. Because that’s who she is. pic.twitter.com/td6z67ifp8
— Gregg Keller (@RGreggKeller) May 20, 2025
One assumes that is because someone at CEMA actually was there and pushed the button that day, but as noted, that is all being investigated now.
In the meantime, the city's residents are attempting to clean up the destruction wrought by the storm and begin to piece their homes and lives back together as best they can. There will be federal assistance...
Just had a great conversation with @realDonaldTrump about Missouri disaster relief. I told him we need the help, as quick as possible
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) May 21, 2025
...but it's going to be a long process. Some homes and businesses won't come back. Those who lost their lives will not return.
And those who remain, and need to be able to count on the city to provide at least the basic services, are left with understandable doubts.
The city tested sirens again on Wednesday and resident Janae Morrison said it’s disheartening how many things went wrong.
“I was aware they were testing them yesterday but not today. I’m frustrated because when we needed the sirens they were not there,” Morrison said.
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