Trump administration, federal agencies accused of abandoning tornado victims

The tornado that tore through the St. Louis region on Friday, May 16, reached EF-3 strength, with winds peaking at 152 mph and a path stretching 23 miles from Clayton, Missouri, to near Edwardsville, Illinois. At its peak, it damaged over 5,000 buildings and took five lives.

Stella Hunt, 70, a tornado victim, stood in the rubble of what was once her two-story brick home on the 4500 block of St. Louis Place. “I had just said a prayer before it happened: ‘Lord, please protect these people, please protect us,’” said Hunt, a lifelong resident of Greater Ville.

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After touching down in Clayton around 2:41 pm, the tornado raced across the city at 55 mph, uprooting lives and leveling homes before lifting near the SIU Edwardsville campus. The National Weather Service confirmed the EF-3 classification and noted further analysis is underway to determine whether multiple tornadoes were involved.

A separate EF-2 tornado also hit Iron County’s Des Arc in the Ozarks the same day, tracking at least 3.25 miles with wind speeds up to 115 mph. It damaged some of the same buildings struck by another tornado on March 14, compounding the misery of an already storm-battered region.

Tragically, the Greater St. Louis area is no stranger to deadly tornadoes. The storm evoked memories of the devastating May 27, 1896, tornado that killed 255 people, and the 1927 and 1959 twisters, which killed 78 and 21 people.

Mayor Cara Spencer declared a state of emergency and imposed a nightly curfew to aid cleanup and safety efforts. But as of Monday, she told MSNBC that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was still “not on the ground” and there was “no confirmed assistance,” which forced local nonprofits, including the St. Louis Community Foundation, to turn to crowdfunding to support affected families.

Also Read: 14 dead in Kentucky; 7 dead in Missouri

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump addressed a Rose Garden ceremony on Monday(May 19) but made no public mention of the storms that have claimed at least 28 lives across Missouri, Kentucky, and Virginia.

FEMA has not yet announced any deadlines for assistance applications, though it acknowledged ongoing assessments.

In Kentucky and North Carolina, recent federal aid requests have also faced hurdles, with FEMA rejecting North Carolina’s bid for an extension after Hurricane Helene.

Critics argue the Trump administration has failed to prioritize storm survivors, with some state officials claiming the agency is being systematically dismantled.

For those like Stella Hunt, the question remains whether federal relief will arrive in time. “All I could do was pray,” she said, as neighbors and volunteers began the long, painful process of recovery.