North St. Louis tornado survivors head to DC for funding push

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - A group from North St. Louis is scheduled to travel to Washington, D.C., from Sept. 22 through Sept. 24 to advocate for funding to address past and future natural disasters. They will be joined by disaster survivors from around the country.

Some of the same people making the trip this week also traveled to Washington, D.C. in mid-December. That trip focused on legislative changes. This trip is focused on funding.

Miguel Lacy was impacted by the May 16 tornado that hit North St. Louis. He said the damage remains part of daily life in the Greater Ville.

“It’s depressing. You know, you wake up feeling good, healthy today. You come out. You look like a war zone. You ain’t happy. Half of a house falling this way. You don’t know what else looks in the fall,” Lacy said.

“It’s still like the day after the tornado, basically. It’s still the day after. We haven’t advanced. We clean up debris. All that’s out of the way. But where the damage is? We still got to get damage control,” Lacy said.

“Help. It’s still a process and we know that. But it’s breaking down to where the people who are trying to redo their homes, we’re not getting the help that we need,” Lacy said.

He said the needs include clothing, shelter and financial help. One challenge he explained is that while trying to address one element of damage to his home, he’s told something else needs to be replaced at an expense he can’t cover.

Lacy said families have been separated as a result of the damage.

“People want to get back to their normal lives, get back to their families. You’ve got families broken up, you know, split up. Got to move here, got to move there. Then you’ve got people worrying about the property that they do have. It might not be much, but it’s worked for and it’s earned. And it belonged to somebody,” Lacy said.

Dr. Michael McLemore, an Action St. Louis Electoral Justice Organizer, said his home in the Ville was among those damaged by the tornado. Repairs to his home are nearly done, but he said many of his neighbors still have a long way to go.