Photos: What life is like in tornado-wrecked parts of St. Louis
From the Rebuild or leave? Tough questions, and fading hope, 3 months after St. Louis tornado series
Missing walls, leaking tarps and not enough money. Three months after the May 16 tornado, residents in parts of north St. Louis still face massive challenges. But talk to folks with deep roots in the area, and you'll find that some are doing whatever it takes to try to stay.
Samantha Williams and her brother Jacob drain water from plastic that was collecting water from a leaky tarp above her parent's bedroom on May 29, 2025, in the Greater Ville neighborhood. Volunteers put a tarp on the Williams' home after the May tornado tore off the roof, off only to have to tarp start to leak when it rained.
Briana Williams, 16, left, washes her son James with the help of boyfriend Kevon Williams on Thursday, May 29, 2025, at their home in the Greater Ville. The May 16 tornado tore the roof off of Briana's parents home where she and her siblings live.
A man walks by a row of tornado-damaged homes at San Francisco and Newstead Avenues, in the Penrose neighborhood of St. Louis, on May 31, 2025
"The tornado messed up our city," said Ayden Thomas, 11, right, who plays football with friends on June 5, 2025, in the Greater Ville neighborhood. Thomas, who lives on Dick Gregory Place, said the wall to the apartment building in the background had just collapsed a couple hours earlier, three weeks after it was damaged by a tornado.
"I don't know if it can be fixed. It will cost so much money. I am thinking about moving back to Arkansas," said George Wells, who takes a rest after putting a tarp around some items in a duplex he co-owns on June 5, 2025, along LeDuc Street in the the Kingsway East neighborhood. The front side of the building and roof sustained major damage from the May 16 tornado. Wells has been staying inside his home without power.
“This is the military sign of distress,†said Marcell Holmes, who places his American flag upside down in front of his tornado-damaged house on Friday, June 6, 2025, in north St. Louis.
Marcell Holmes, center, hugs Pastor Pamela Paul of Faith, Hope, and Love church, left, and Bishop-Elect Kelvin Sykes of From Death to Life Ministries, right, who were doing outreach to residents affected by the tornado on June 6, 2025, along St. Louis Avenue.
Joe Howard works on the roof of his aunt's damaged home on June 16, 2025, in the Greater Ville neighborhood, one month after an EF3 tornado hit St. Louis.
"I like standing guard on the street," said Ed Giden, third from left, who feels the heat of a fire alongside his uncle Jak White and cousin Stephanie Maxwell outside his damaged apartment building on Monday, June 16, 2025, in the Fountain Park neighborhood. After work Giden sits outside his home until dark to keep people from rummaging through his neighbors' homes on the block before he heads downtown to sleep. June 16 was one month after an EF3 tornado hit St. Louis.
"It was up against the house when the roof collapsed," said Chauta Gibbs, who recently inherited her late uncle's scooter, that lies in a pile of bricks on June 16, 2025, at her house in the Greater Ville neighborhood.
Volunteer carpenter Sarah Fuller, with Square UP, works to stabilize a tarp on the tornado-damaged roof of a home in the Greater Ville neighborhood on June 5, 2025. Weeks after a tornado devastated parts of St. Louis, some homeowners scrambled to replace tarps that became unattached or ripped.
Wayne Wilcox checks his mail on June 26, 2025, in front of the remains of his home that collapsed during the May 16 tornado in the Greater Ville neighborhood. Wilcox rigged up a temporary mailbox before his original mailbox was recovered from elsewhere in the neighborhood.
Adrian Green helps his father rebuild his childhood home that is now a rental property on June 26, 2025, in the Greater Ville neighborhood. "This is where I grew up," said Green, who also owns property that was devastated by the tornado.
Residents attend a town hall meeting to hear about assistance for tornado victims on June 26, 2025, at the Child And Family Empowerment Center in the Ville neighborhood of St. Louis.
“The house is falling more and more every day,†said Karl Taylor, who feeds his cat Goldie in front of his nephew’s house, center, where he rents a room on Thursday, June 26, 2025, in the Greater Ville neighborhood of St. Louis. The May 16 tornado damaged his room and now the roof is slowly collapsing. Taylor has been alternating between living in a tent or in his van, where he keeps items collected from his room and from relief agencies.
"It's too heavy, I can't move it," said Sheila Thompson, who watches as a tub catching rain water from her leaking roof overflows in the main bedroom of her tornado-damaged house on June 27, 2025, in the Fountain Park neighborhood. "I don't know what's next," said Thompson, who inherited the family home from her mother. After repeated rainfall, the tarp covering her roof started to leak, causing more damage to her home.
“I put a bar of soap out about a month ago,†said Jesse Anderson, who washes himself with water from a fire hydrant on July 10, 2025, in Fountain Park. Anderson said he moved from Arkansas to St. Louis in December 2024 and his apartment in the Academy neighborhood was damaged by the tornado. The city installed portable toilets and sinks in the park and the fire department created a fountain at the hydrant to temporarily help residents of the area.
Bruce Braswell frames out the front of Darnell “HardTimez†Forest home on Thursday, July 10, 2025, in the Greater Ville neighborhood. Forest hopes to rebuild the original exterior of the front of his home with the brick he recycled, but knows he might have to resort to the more affordable option of siding. He is determined to rebuild and stay in the neighborhood.
"It's been hard," said John McCloud, who continues to clear out items from his home on July 10, 2025, in the Academy neighborhood of St. Louis. McCloud said at the time that he was still waiting to meet with FEMA to find out about aid.
Kim Robinson loads a U-Haul truck with items from her tornado-damaged home on July 15, 2025, in the Academy neighborhood of St. Louis. Robinson needed to clear out the house so her insurance company and a structural engineer could inspect the damage to her home. Robinson says she bought the property in 2015 and hopes to rebuild.
"We wanted to invest in the community before the tornado and we still do," said James Johnson, who walks by Kenyon Hudson, mixing mortar to repair brick walls, on Wednesday, July 16, 2025, at a rental property along Page Avenue in the Fountain Park neighborhood. Johnson is one of three owners, all from St. Louis, who purchased the property in January 2025 from the LRA and were rehabbing it when the EF3 tornado tore off the roof and part of the wall. They all want to be help rebuild the community.
Marco Young rebuilds the upstairs walls of a two-family flat along Page Avenue in the Fountain Park neighborhood on July 16, 2025, after the building was damaged by the May 16 tornado. The building owners, all from St. Louis, purchased the property in January 2025 from the LRA and were rehabbing it when the tornado struck. They all want to be help rebuild the community.
A message asking for prayer is written on bricks from Craig Cole Jr.'s home that lies in ruins on July 16, 2025.
Fallen trees surround Antonio Bell and Malcolm Jones as they repair the roof on Rosie Jackson's home on July 18, 2025, in the Fountain Park neighborhood. The EF3 tornado in May tore off the back of Jackson's four-family flat.
"Sweat is pouring into my eyes," said Jarrell Sanders as he moves items out of his uncle's tornado-damaged house on July 24, 205, in the Greater Ville neighborhood.
In this Series
Rebuild or leave? Tough questions, and fading hope, 3 months after St. Louis tornado
Laurie Skrivan | Post-Dispatch
Photographer
Some residents still cling to the hope that their homes can be rebuilt.ÌýBut many have already left, doubting that rebuilding is worth the effort.
Three months after the May 16, 2025, tornado, homeowners have a clearer picture of what rebuilding will cost, and what aid is available.
