St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer placed City Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) Sarah Russell on leave pending an investigation into why the agency did not activate tornado sirens last Friday.
An EF-3 tornado ripped through parts of the city, killing five people.
After learning of the failure of the sirens to be activated, Mayor Spencer immediately ordered an internal investigation. The initial focus was to correct the immediate issue, which Mayor Spencer did by changing the siren activation protocol to clearly place the responsibility of activating the sirens with the Fire Department. However, as the investigation continued, it became increasingly clear that there was not just one serious issue, but multiple. The mayor has directed her staff to initiate an external investigation to fully explore this and any other potential issues.Friday afternoon, CEMA staff, including Russell, were at a workshop at 1520 Market St. and were not at the CEMA office located at 1915 Olive St., where CEMA’s siren activation button is located, despite anticipated storms. As a result, when a tornado warning was issued, Russell or other CEMA staff could not personally activate the siren, and Russell contacted the Fire Department.At that point, there was a breakdown in communication. 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.
“CEMA exists, in large part, to alert the public to dangers caused by severe weather, and the office failed to do that in the most horrific and deadly storm our City has seen in my lifetime.” stated Mayor Spencer. “Commissioner Russell has served our City for years and is a person of good will, but I cannot move on from this without providing accountability and ensuring that our emergency management is in trusted hands.”
I am a weather nut. At the last minute, I decided not to go to OU for meteorology but to attend OSU since my parents lived in Stillwater. Free room and board! You cannot beat that.
Everyone knew last Friday would be an active day in the St. Louis area.
“We knew there was weather coming. We should have been at the button. I don’t know why that decision was made. I don’t agree with that decision,” Spencer told KMOV.
No workshop trumps being prepared for severe storms. Nothing trumps severe weather.
Tornadoes are unpredictable. Not everyone has access to a weather radio. Not everyone has weather alerts activated on their phone.
The fire department said its siren activation button did not work. The department activated CEMA’s button.
Spencer said the fire department and CEMA tornado siren buttons fall under CEMA’s responsibility.
The fire department will have someone at CEMA at all times. Yes, 24 hours a day.
According to KMOV, they tested the sirens at 3 PM on Tuesday.
You mean to tell me that no one noticed the fire department’s siren button did not work?
Guys, it gets worse. KMOV found disturbing news in the 2022-2023 audit:
First Alert 4 found this city-run audit from 2022 to 2023 of the City Emergency Management Agency. The audit explains there was no formal policy and procedure manual, which can “lead to problems understanding each other.”That same city audit also found the outdoor warning sirens to be “inadequate.” The 2024 budget had $3.4 million dollars allocated to replace the system.Mayor Spencer said it wasn’t completed but she is looking to expedite it now.“Shifting it to be more automated system, removing the human error and unfortunately that wasn’t done yet,” Mayor Spencer said.
If you live in tornado alley, Dixie Alley, or anywhere prone to tornadoes, listen to me now:
You can also follow my weather list on X.
After the 2013 Moore tornado, Oklahoma now allows parents to either keep their kids home or check them out early with no attendance punishment on risky days.
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