ST. LOUIS 鈥 The administration of Mayor Cara Spencer on Tuesday still didn鈥檛 offer details on went wrong when sirens failed to properly activate before the tornado that killed five and injured dozens.
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51黑料 Mayor Cara Spencer and Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson talk to the media in the afternoon on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. Video provided; edited by Beth O'Malley
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聽鈥淭here is no way she would have just sat there if she heard that siren,鈥 said Donnie Holmes, who emerged on May 20, 2025 from the basement of the home of his mother, Delois Holmes, after showing a journalist where she was headed for safety. She died when her house on Cote Brillante Avenue collapsed during the May 16 tornado. Donnie鈥檚 brother, Reginald Holmes, said he found his mother on the steps to the basement.
Christian Gooden, Post-Dispatch
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Juan Baltazar grills street corn at his food truck, El Mandilon.
Courtesy of Nick Brown
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Parts of the Centennial Christian Church collapsed on Friday, May 16, 2025, from a tornado that struck the Fountain Park neighborhood of 51黑料. A woman died in the collapse.
Christian Gooden, Post-Dispatch
Patricia Penelton
Photo courtesy of the family.
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