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That was how Pastor Travis J. Cox described the fate on Friday of his church, the Bread of Life Healing and Deliverance Church near Fairground Park.

“We’ve been here nine and a half years,� Cox said, “and now, about the only thing left is the front door.�

Such were the stories U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., heard when he flew into St. Louis on Monday and headed to the 4200 block of Kossuth Avenue, an especially hard-hit area of north St. Louis.

Another resident of the block, Malcolm Whitlock, told of how the siding on his house was ripped away and how his porch, though damaged, had somehow remained standing.

“The lady next door to me, she just had a new roof put on not that long ago,� Whitlock said, pointing to a house now topped by a blue tarpaulin.

“And that just went up like that,� he said, throwing both hands skyward. “Gone.�

Hawley, in keeping with his recent Senate probe into insurance companies’ accountability, said he will pay close attention to that issue in relation to Friday’s storm.

“Everyone I’ve talked to, I’ve asked them if they have insurance and have they contacted them,� Hawley said.

Hawley said that for him, how insurance companies handle the St. Louis storm “is a real acid test for them.�

“Here is a good chance for them to pay up. I want to see these insurance companies pay out claims to these people,� he said.

For those who do not have homeowners insurance, Hawley said he will work with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to get federal aid dollars for them.

“It’s time for the federal government and insurance companies to step up,� he said, adding that damage assessors from FEMA are scheduled to be in the area Wednesday.

Five people were killed and 38 more were injured in the tornadoes and high winds that moved Friday from Clayton through Forest Park and into north St. Louis neighborhoods.

About 5,000 structures were hit and the damage estimate now stands at $1.6 billion. About 30,000 Ameren customers are still without power.

Hawley’s hardline stance against insurance companies began before the twisters hit Friday in St. Louis.

Last week, in his role as chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Disaster Management, Hawley criticized insurance companies’ claim handling during recent natural disasters.

He also went after Allstate and State Farm insurance companies, saying it appears that in 2024, the two insurance giants were “running a racket� with a “pattern of fraud.�

Hawley said he was looking at the companies’ practices in regard to other 2024 natural disasters, such as Hurricane Milton, California wildfires and tornadoes in Missouri.

The subcommittee heard testimony from two insurance adjusters, who said they were pressured to lower damage estimates after Hurricane Helene.

Michael Fiato, Allstate executive vice president and chief claims officer, told the subcommittee that his company paid out more than $4.6 billion specifically to catastrophe claims.

Fiato said he regretted that some policyholders were dissatisfied, such as one woman who said Allstate offered her $46,000 to fix her Georgia home, an estimate that was about $350,000 lower than what an independent adjuster later estimated.

This past weekend, shortly after the storms hit here, Hawley issued a notice on social media to all insurance companies operating in Missouri that his subcommittee expects fair dealing with claims filed from Friday’s storm.

As an example, Hawley posted a letter he sent to State Farm President and Chief Executive Officer Jon Farney, saying he knows that the company covers many people in the affected area.

“Your policyholders have paid you faithfully, often for years,� Hawley said in the letter. “Now is the time for you to honor the faith your customers placed in you.�

“I fully expect you to make your policyholders whole,� Hawley said.

At a news conference Monday afternoon at the emergency response command center in the Central West End, Hawley said company executives who seem to be shirking their responsibilities will get subpoenaed to testify before his subcommittee.

But also at the news conference, Hawley took time to relish a conversation he had with one woman whose home was damaged and without power.

Hawley said the woman told him she was cooking for everyone in the neighborhood. But she had no gas or electricity.

“And then she pointed at three grills and a smoker she had set up,� Hawley said.

“Now that’s the best of us,� he said. “That’s who we are.�