ST. LOUIS — Nine months ago, a generational tornado tore through north St. Louis, leaving a trail of collapsed brick and shattered lives.
Today on Kensington Avenue, the skyline is still defined by boarded-up windows and homes you can see straight through. While workers in hard hats are still finally visible on ladders across the neighborhood, many residents say the pace of recovery is “disheartening.”
For Navy Veteran Bill Atkins Sr., the struggle isn’t just about the wind and rain from the storm—it’s about the silence that followed.
“It Still Looks Like a War Zone”
Atkins was just two feet from his basement door when the storm struck his home of nearly 20 years. Debris flying through a window sheared off his lower leg. Today, he navigates his property with a prosthetic and a cane, surveying damage that insurance only partially covered…