EF3 Tornado Rips through St. Louis

EF3 Tornado Rips Through St. Louis (May 16, 2025)
By: Willow Albano

        When I was in elementary school, I liked thunderstorms because it meant my family would have a sleepover in the basement, which was usually not allowed growing up (for good reason). When I used to get scared, my mother would tell me that I shouldn't be worried because our house was on the very top of our hill, so tornadoes couldn't reach us. While I now know that is just a myth, those words allowed me to sleep easily back then. 

    When an EF3 tornado ripped through St. Louis, 41 miles (approx. 1 hour) away from my hometown, our house still suffered major secondary effects of the thunderstorm that generated it due to the additional 2-2.5 inches of hail and wind damages. Shingles were missing, trees were toppled, and certain light fixtures had been ripped out and lost to the storm. This was the best case scenario. Those in the direct line of the tornado lost their homes, were injured, or died. 5 people perished, mostly elderly who were in their homes, 38 were injured and 5,000 buildings were severely damaged or destroyed. More than 23,000 homes and businesses did not have access to electricity or running water for days. The tornado was classified as an EF3, with winds of up to 152mph and around 55 mph stretching almost a mile wide when tearing through the city, estimating $1.6billion in damages. A combination of moisture in the air and favorable weather conditions for extreme weather created this tornado. 

    St. Louis has had a long history of tornadoes. While the last one was an EF0 which grazed STL back in 2013, the most recently dangerous recorded was in 1959. An EF5 killed 11 people in the city and an additional 10 county-wide. Part of the top of the old Arena flew off and a TV station tower fell. However, the most literature on St. Louis tornadoes was a tornado in 1927, moving 100 mph and killing 87 people, injuring 600, and damaging 2,000 buildings in its 7 mile path. The literature documents how the African American community came together to repair and rebuild in lieu of aide not arriving fast enough. 

    This is a trend that still continues to this day. Months before the tornado, the City Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) expressed at a town hall how it continues to be underfunded, with 0.2% of the budget going to STL CEMA compared to their peers in Kansas City and Chicago, whose departments receive around 1.5-2% of the city's budget annually. Due to this meager budget, residents in North City have found themselves to be the first responders. Many citizens recount how, although emergency services arrived at the scene, they failed to take immediate action. This response highlights the racial and economic disparities St. Louis continues to face. The disregard and slow movement from FEMA and outside aide in addressing the suffering of black and brown communities illustrates the historical oppression which informs & maintains current response practices, and emphasizes the needs for both cultural and political systemic change.

1) https://spectrumlocalnews.com/mo/st-louis/news/2025/05/21/fema-surveys-st--louis-

2) https://www.ksdk.com/article/weather/severe-weather/st-louis-tornado-history-when-did-last-one-hit-city/63-6b22dc25-c10a-48f4-9ab6-111a1d9f35ee
3) https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/15385132211067182?casa_token=g5ZTP8sJFvwAAAAA%3ALIKhh9wIOdTeEqPuwJD_H6HiIa7WnhzqjQnpac3WnNxpRMMGKt_RnUhkXNbE0pN360GAA3YIMK7-qA
4) https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/18/us/st-louis-tornado-aftermath
5) https://www.firstalert4.com/2025/05/23/we-are-underfunded-weeks-before-tornado-emergency-management-head-warned-st-louis-leaders-cema-needed-money/
6) https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=1262207