An expert set of outside eyes sees major flaws in the way St. Louis continues to respond to the May 16 tornado. In a presentation last month, a Washington think tank that tracks disaster response money urged the city to make some changes as it nears a year since the tornado, warning that without swift, decisive action, the city’s recovery efforts could become stuck on a bad track.
Among their findings: St. Louis has yet to push to unlock crucial federal funds that many disasters get, officials lack a clear vision for where money will come from and what to spend it on, and the city needs advice from seasoned disaster relief professionals. (In public documents, the city has outlined a vision that’s focused on the “visible progress of recovery.” In response to the think tank’s criticism, it says it’s handling advocacy through both the firm it’s contracted for cost recovery and Missouri’s D.C. delegation.)
Staffers from the Washington-based think tank the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace came to St. Louis last month at the invitation of the local media production company-turned-tornado-response group My Friends and I. At an event on April 22 at the 21c Museum Hotel, they discussed how other disasters have played out, the future of St. Louis’ recovery, and what still needs to be done. “A lot of this is just, like, being told we’re not crazy,” My Friends and I owner Cami Thomas said of the visit…