After the Tornado, St. Louis Needs More Than Sympathy. It Needs a Plan

Representative Kem Smith (originally written May 21, 2025)

What’s happening in St. Louis is not just a weather event. It’s a humanitarian crisis. Tornadoes cut a mile-long, seven-mile-wide path through densely populated neighborhoods, leaving devastation in their wake. The damage is overwhelming, the scale is vast, and the slow-moving silence from some corners of leadership is deafening.

This past weekend, my family and I worked alongside neighbors helping a sleep-deprived man whose family had lived in their beautiful red brick home for 73 years. What was left was barely standing. We spent hours clearing the front porch, the elderly woman’s favorite spot according to her son, because someone else’s entire rooftop had landed on it. Now the family could gather what few belongings remained. But there was no plan for where they could take their possessions. No promise of temporary housing. No assurance that the family wouldn’t be displaced. Just trauma and questions.

All around, I saw it: families sitting on porches in the stifling heat because the air inside was unbearable without power. People were improvising shelter with what they had left. Residents took pride in salvaging what they could. Sweeping bricks, hauling limbs, and bagging roofing debris. These are the same people who are now being handed 10-day vacate notices. Eviction, on top of destruction.

The National Guard is on the ground. Ameren UE and local crews are working tirelessly to restore electricity and stabilize the area. But the need is bigger than boots and wires. The devastation spans miles. Entire blocks look like war zones. Power poles snapped in half. Trees ripped from their roots. Businesses gone. Lives disrupted beyond recognition.

The people are doing their part. They are resilient, loving, and proud. I saw one home connected to another with extension cords. Neighbors sharing power just to keep each other going. That’s St. Louis.

But that kind of grassroots determination cannot and should not replace an actual recovery plan. This is the moment to step up with urgency and humanity. We need coordination. We need a strategy. And above all, we need equity.

Dumpsters need to be placed on every block to provide residents with a place to dispose of debris. Cooling centers must be opened in nearby buildings that are structurally sound and sitting unused. There are vacant schools, city-owned buildings, and faith institutions that could be converted into temporary shelters or recovery centers.

But logistics alone won’t be enough. St. Louis needs a sustainable development plan, one that doesn’t exploit this moment to gentrify, displace, or erase Black communities under the guise of rebuilding. Recovery must center the people who live here. We need local voices shaping how these neighborhoods are repaired, how resources are distributed, and how we ensure this doesn’t become yet another chapter in a long history of systemic neglect.

We’ve been here before. The slow trickle of help. The media glare without meaningful aid. The predatory offers to “buy out” residents when they’re most vulnerable. This cycle must end.

If you’re reading this and wondering what you can do, don’t just watch. Be part of the recovery. If you have connections to city services, advocate for dumpster placements. If you have ties to utility companies, help with electric bill relief for those sharing power. If you have funds, donate to local grassroots organizations that are already on the ground. Bring food. Bring coolers. Show up with resources, not just cameras.

The people of St. Louis aren’t waiting to be saved. They’re already saving each other. But they deserve better than to do it alone. The tornado took down homes. But if we don’t act now, negligence and broken systems will bring this entire community down. And that is something we can prevent.