The city of St Louis placed its emergency management chief on leave after the staffer failed to activate the tornado sirens before a deadly twister tore through the Midwestern metropolis, according to reports.
Five people were killed, dozens were injured and thousands more were impacted by the tornado last Friday that critics say was made dramatically worse by the failure of the city’s emergency manager to sound the alarm after receiving a National Weather Service alert, according to CBS News.
Sarah Russell, commissioner of the Missouri City Emergency Management Agency for St. Louis, was not at the relevant CEMA office station just before 2:30 p.m. local time when the warning was issued — but was instead at an off-site workshop, the outlet reported.
Russell was forced to call the St. Louis Fire Department, which is the only other location from which the tornado sirens can be turned on, CBS reported.
St. Louis Fire Department officials said Russell gave “ambiguous” orders and therefore they did not sound the 60 outdoor tornado sirens placed around the city, Mayor Cara Spencer revealed, according to the station.
“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,” Mayor Spencer said in a statement.
However, fire officials revealed Tuesday that even if they had received the order clearly, SLFD could not have sounded the sirens because the emergency button in their offices was not working, CBS reported.
“I have been shocked and remain shocked, and frankly a bit horrified, by the issues in the system,” Spencer said at a press conference, according to St. Louis Magazine.
Russell, who identifies as non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, is a longtime employee of the department, according to their LinkedIn page and began as commissioner in 2021.
The commissioner was called a social media expert and a “consultant for several departments and organizations as they look to engage in using social media for local government or emergency response purpose,” according to a profile since scrubbed from the St. Louis government’s website, The Blaze reported.
Since the siren failure, Russell has been subjected to multiple online death threats, but none were deemed credible by St. Louis police, according to STL Today.
Russell will remain on administrative leave pending the completion of an external investigation, the mayor said.
St. Louis Fire Department Captain John Walk will serve as interim emergency management commissioner in the meantime.
Republican Governor Mike Kehoe revealed Thursday that both President Trump and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem have pledged federal help for Missouri as it recovers from the storm.
“This could be the catalyst that really brings St. Louis back to that incredible city we all know it could be,” Gov. Kehoe said at a press conference Thursday. “I don’t want to discount the tragedy and the incredibly tough times people are going through, but I’m optimistic.”
The National Weather Service reported that the tornado touched down between 2:30 p.m. and 2:50 p.m. in Clayton, Missouri, on Friday — leaving a trail of decimation across the Gateway to the West.
