Latest news with #Macek
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
St. Louis Zoo scrambles animals, 10,000 visitors to safety as EF-3 tornado leaves trail of damage
ST. LOUIS – While a Tornado Warning can be stressful for a family, imagine being the St. Louis Zoo, which was right outside the path of an EF-3 tornado and managed to keep hundreds of animals, insects, reptiles and 10,000 visitors safe. The greater St. Louis metro region is facing unimaginable loss and a long recovery after a strong tornado carved a 23-mile path of destruction through the city, leaving five dead and damages estimated at over $1 billion. The tornado just brushed the north of the St. Louis Zoo, which suffered significant wind damage throughout the historic property. 7 Killed In Missouri After Tornado-warned Storm Causes Extensive Damage St. Louis Zoo Director Michael Macek said the zoo staff didn't wait for a Tornado Warning to prepare for the storm. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums-accredited facility has an emergency plan for about every situation, including animal escapes, fires and weather events. "The morning was a beautiful day. In fact, even after the tornado came through, the sun came out, and it was a beautiful afternoon," Macek said. "As the weather was approaching, we'd let everybody know. We just made sure they had all their radios on. They had their landlines, you know, volume up. And they have their mobiles on for any kind of messaging related to a tornado warning or watch." Even before the National Weather Service issued the Tornado Watch, animal caretakers were using recall techniques to ensure the animals were back inside their enclosed areas. Not all animals were inside ahead of the storm. The Asian elephants had their own tornado drill. "So you can imagine a big animal. If you're on land, you could potentially take a lot of projectiles," Macek said. "So they actually instinctively go into the water. So they went into the pool during the course of the biggest, hardest, hardest winds, and then they came back out." Herding animals wasn't the only challenge; zoo staff also needed to ensure the shelter of all 10,000 visitors. Throughout the zoo, there are areas considered safe severe weather zones. "Our team members could be bringing people into the administration building, into the basement," Macek said. "We had approximately 70 people in the basement of our reptile house. There were people in our bathrooms, which are all just cinder blocks, no windows." St. Louis Food Truck Owner Killed During Storms Leaves Behind 7 Children: 'He Always Showed Up With A Hug' After the storm passed, Macek said it was apparent from the damage that the zoo needed to close. The staff then evacuated all the guests who had sheltered from the storm throughout the zoo. Macek said the recently renovated solarium in the Herpatrium was damaged, and some perimeter fencing was knocked down. The roof of the Zoo's Ann Lee Butterfly Wing was also damaged during the storm. The Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House at the Missouri Botanical Garden in Chesterfield swooped in and took in butterflies, chrysalids and cocoons needing a temporary spot. Macek said it took about two days to collect all the butterflies. "If you're a proficient butterfly netter, it's not so complicated and our team is pretty proficient at it," he said. The most significant loss is the trees throughout the zoo. Macek estimates that about 100 trees, some more than 100 years old, fell in the storm. "That's an incredible shame," Macek said. On Monday, about 70% of the zoo campus reopened, and Macek hopes the full zoo will be open by Memorial Day article source: St. Louis Zoo scrambles animals, 10,000 visitors to safety as EF-3 tornado leaves trail of damage
CBS News
30-04-2025
- Climate
- CBS News
Pittsburgh-area residents begins clean-up process after severe storms rip through region
Officials provide update on damage and recovery following severe storms throughout Pittsburgh region Officials provide update on damage and recovery following severe storms throughout Pittsburgh region Officials provide update on damage and recovery following severe storms throughout Pittsburgh region Severe storms ripped through the Pittsburgh area on Tuesday evening, leaving a path of destruction in their wake. At least three deaths have been reported because of the severe weather, and thousands of residents remain without power nearly 24 hours after the storms arrived. Now, residents across several municipalities are left to pick up the pieces and begin cleaning up what damage may lie inside and outside their homes. Forest Hills Borough declares state of emergency The Borough of Forest Hills declared a state of emergency Tuesday night after the severe storms. The weather was so extreme that a tree branch had pierced through a woman's home. "A tree branch had gone down through the roof and into her living room," neighbor Jim Macek said. That branch was only a small part of a big problem. "Naturally, you worry about your neighbors," Macek said. "We went to knock on the door [and] saw this disaster," neighbor Matt Hartman said. Hartman navigated through a mess to get the woman who lives there out. It wasn't necessarily easy. "Could not get her out the door initially because the porch had collapsed a little bit," he said. "We took the glass out of the storm panel [and] got her outside okay." He says the woman avoided injuries. She also had a place to stay for the night. "I'm sure she had a rough night sleeping, but I'm sure she's doing okay," Hartman said. On Ardmore Boulevard, there were no colors to direct drivers on Wednesday morning as the storm knocked out the traffic signals. People who live in the neighborhood say the strength of this storm was uncanny. "We've been here 5 years, never heard the wind so severe," Hartman said. "There's a lot of work, a lot of cleanup," Macek said. "And we're just going to jump in together, and try and get it cleaned up." The borough's mayor said in a Facebook post that police, fire, and the department of public works crews are working to clear roads and get things back up and running. Severe weather tosses tree onto busy roadway in Squirrel Hill On Shady Avenue in Squirrel Hill, a large tree blocked traffic on a busy roadway. As Zehavit Kirshenboim and her 16-year-old daughter Einvav Israel looked at the ginormous spruce outside their home Wednesday morning, they were amazed by what Mother Nature can do. "Makes you humble now to feel the strong power of nature," Kirshenboim said. Less than 24 hours earlier, Israel was in her room when the lights started to flicker. She went to her window and saw branches swinging and then a bright flash and sparks. "The tree just falls to the other side, and it hits the cables, and they fell onto the ground," Israel said. The force completely uprooted the trunk, lifting some of the sidewalk on Shady Avenue by Marlborough. Immediately, the power went out, and Israel ran downstairs to tell her parents. "It was really, like, this huge tree falls onto the ground, and you can see, like, all of it," Israel said. "I thought immediately, I hope no one is under that tree," Kirshenboim said. They tried to call 911 but couldn't get through. Pittsburgh Public Safety reported some system outages. Eventually, first responders showed up along with utility crews. They said it was like something they saw in the movies, but they're grateful, knowing it could have been much worse. "We have such luck that it didn't fall our way or on the neighbors or hit anyone or any car or anything," Kirshenboim said. High winds topple a tree onto a car with a Penn Hills woman inside According to the National Weather Service, those severe winds were so strong that the damage they caused was comparable to tornadoes. On Poe Drive in Penn Hills, the severe winds toppled a tree that took down power lines and fell onto two cars, one of which Cynthia Ames was inside at the time it collapsed. "Yeah, I've never seen something like this. That's both of our cars totaled, they're totaled," said Ames. She said it happened when she got inside her son's Pontiac G-5 to roll the car window up for him, but the storm rolled in quickly. "And then, I swear I could feel the car lift a little bit, and then just 'boom,' and I didn't know what happened. I thought a branch fell down." It was more than just one branch. "The car keeps bouncing, that tree kept bouncing on it, and when I was in it, I could hear the tires pop and just all the windows crashed," Ames described. "911 wasn't answering, the neighbors were calling. Everyone was calling, and no one was answering for hours." According to Ames, her son's friends were able to pull her out of the crushed car. Even though she was out of the car, she wasn't without trouble, and like many others in the neighborhood, she was without power. Now, it's nothing but cleanup and recovery for the Penn Hills community and Ames, who is without transportation, but is feeling lucky to be alive. "I just finally got some substantial employment, but I need my car to do it, and there it is," Ames said.
