From May 15 through May 18, a deadly succession of tornadoes and severe storms ravaged the Midwest. These dangerous weather-related events led to at least 28 deaths and innumerable injuries across several states. The storms caused widespread destruction across a six-state area, including Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Virginia. They destroyed more than 5,000 buildings and cut power to thousands more residents.
Videos and photos flooding in from the impacted areas show a catastrophic situation. They photograph razed structures, crushed cars, uprooted trees and severed utility poles. In the midst of this turmoil, construction worker Alexander Hoffman experienced what must have been a truly harrowing encounter. He and his colleague filmed their stunned discovery that a tornado was about to hit them.
“Oh my god. We’re in a tornado,” – Unattributed
In St. Louis, where five residents lost their lives due to the storms, Mayor Cara Spencer expressed her concern over the city’s preparedness. As she noted, this was a huge delay in getting the warning sirens deployed. This often left the community without any warnings in the face of an impending threat.
“Within minutes, a massive weather system had hit the ground and was decimating our neighborhoods,” – St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer
The slow moving storms were responsible for three tornadoes hitting St. Louis County and Scott County, taking an additional two lives. On Twitter, Mayor Spencer identified a key flaw in the protocol. He criticized the lack of action to sound sirens in advance, leaving residents blind to the tornadoes barreling towards them.
“In those minutes, between the warning and the time that we were experiencing a massive weather event, there was a failure, a human failure, a failure in protocol to get the sirens up and running to let the community know that there was a massive weather event hitting our community,” – St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer
As of Monday morning, meteorologists confirmed more than 80 tornadoes that struck several states. These impacted states include Kentucky, Virginia, Wisconsin, Illinois, Oklahoma, and Nebraska. The National Weather Service has issued warnings for another round of storms forecasted to impact areas across the Mississippi Valley on May 20.
Yet damage estimates for St. Louis alone already exceed $1 billion. Those same officials are working around the clock to determine the full scale of that devastation. According to reports, thousands of residents are still without power as long-term recovery continues.
The aftermath of this severe weather event vividly illustrates the many ways in which natural disasters devastate communities. Emergency responders have been mobilized to assist those affected by the storms while local governments begin to devise plans for recovery and rebuilding.
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