St. Louis emergency official removed after tornado kills five without warning siren
St. Louis emergency official removed after tornado kills five without warning siren Mayor Cara Spencer said residents were not alerted to 'the most horrific and deadly storm our city has seen in my lifetime.'
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St. Louis construction workers survive tornado in their truck
St. Louis construction workers took shelter in their truck when a tornado ripped through the area.
St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer will seek a new top emergency official after warning sirens failed to be activated ahead of what she called 'the most horrific and deadly storm our city has seen in my lifetime,' including a tornado that killed five people and injured dozens.
Spencer placed Sarah Russell, commissioner of the City Emergency Management Agency, on administrative leave and said the department would be led by Fire Captain John Walk 'until a permanent commissioner has been found,'' according to a statement from the mayor's office.
Russell and her staff were away from the office May 16 as the expected storm bore down on St. Louis, and they could not press the button to activate the alarm warning residents of the impending tornado danger, the statement said.
The mayor's office said Russell reached out to the fire department but 'the directive to activate the sirens was ambiguous, which cannot happen when a tornado is sweeping through our City and St. Louisans' safety depends on being alerted immediately.''
Spencer has since changed the protocol so the fire department will be in charge of activating the sirens, her office said.
The National Weather Service said at least half a dozen tornadoes struck Missouri and neighboring Illinois. According to officials, at least 5,000 properties were damaged in St. Louis.
The twisters were part of a major system of severe weather that tore through the Upper Midwest and some of the eastern states on May 16, killing more than 30 and leaving many damaged homes and downed power lines.
Spencer estimated the damage in St. Louis at around $1 billion. She and other Missouri officials have complained that federal response to the disaster hasn't mobilized quickly enough, saying the Federal Emergency Management Agency had no presence on the ground as of May 19.
'On the local level, every organization, community member, elected official, has been on point,'' Spencer told MSNBC. 'What we need right now is federal assistance. This is what the federal government is for.''
Contributing: Mike Snider and Sarah D. Wire, USA TODAY
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