A Missouri emergency management chief in St. Louis is in hot water. They've been placed on leave for failing to activate tornado sirens in the city. A deadly twister swept through the city killing several.
At least five people died and multiple more were injured. I can't help but wonder if lives might have been saved if the tornado sirens had been activated. The city's emergency manager failed to signal the alarms despite being notified by the National Weather Service. Now, according to CBS News, Sarah Russell finds themself in trouble.
Identifying as non-binary and using pronouns them/they, Russell is the commissioner of the Missouri City Emergency Management Agency for St. Louis. Unfortunately, Russell wasn't at their post when the tornado swept through St. Louis. Instead, they were at an off-site workshop instead of at the CEMA office station.
Missouri Tornado
Okay, so there should be a back up protocol for the tornado sirens, right? I'm glad you asked. The St. Louis Fire Department can also trigger the alarms. However, when Russell called, the fire station claims that they gave ambiguous orders on whether or not to sound the alarms. As a result, the tornado alarms were not sounded.
"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 Cara Spencer said in a statement. Additionally, it appears the button for the alarms wasn't working anyways.
"I have been shocked and remain shocked, and frankly a bit horrified, by the issues in the system," Spencer said.
Russell will remain on administrative leave penning investigation. Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe claims that the federal government will help in the tornado recovery effort.
"This could be the catalyst that really brings St. Louis back to that incredible city we all know it could be," 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."
We'll keep you updated as we learn more about this terrifying oversight.
