After another round of weather, homes take more damage but people cling to hope

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - As many try to recover, another challenge after Monday night’s storms created even more damage to people’s tornado-wrecked homes.

For some in North St. Louis, Tuesday was spent packing up their belongings.

On Marcus Avenue between Page and Dr. Martin Luther King Drive, one homeowner told First Alert 4 that after the rain, he’s concerned the roof and ceiling could give out. Others are trying to protect what they have.

“Oh yes, you can see rain right there,” said Sena Torrence, whose home was damaged by the tornado and rain.

It has been a difficult few days of cleaning up and waiting for the power to come back on. Now Torrence’s home needs to dry out.

Torrence said, “Once the ceiling fell, it’s just rain from the first floor, from the upstairs all the way down to the basement, and the basement is flooded.”

It’s not much better at Brianna Strong and her family’s home, where water continues to drip from the ceiling onto the floor.

Strong said, “The back of the house is completely destroyed. You have rain damage, water damage. Our whole kitchen is flooded. One of my nephews’ room is flooded. My mom’s room is flooded, so now we’re trying to figure out… before we were waiting on the electricity, but now we’re going to actually have to move and figure things out. We can’t stay here anymore."

Monday night’s strong rain permeated through the already damaged roof caused by Friday’s tornado and made its way onto every floor of the house.

Strong said, “We thought everything was fine until everything just started coming down, and it’s water everywhere, so it’s like I’m trying not to stress, but underneath this smile, it’s chaotic. I don’t know what to do.”

On Tuesday, they spent the day moving what they could into storage. It’s making this whole experience all the more challenging.

“Not (hanging on) by much, not by much, but we still have faith. We’re God given family, so we’re just praying and hoping that some type of positivity, some type of help, some type of resources will come through,” said Strong. “We’re still trying to hang in there, even after the last storm last night. We’re still trying to figure things out.”

Torrence is also looking at those next steps.

“Through it all, we’re going to make it through this storm.” She said, “Filing an insurance claim and being patient with them, cause I know I’m not the only one. It’s a lot of us out here that’s suffering like this, and everything should work out.”

That hope Tuesday, coming with another sign of progress as utility crews amassed around Marcus.

“It makes me happy, I might have electricity this week, and we can start cleaning up everything and getting everything back in order,” said Torrence.

The community has been coming through with help.

“I’m just thankful and grateful that the community came together and they giving out water, food or whatever somebody need,” said Torrence. “A little is a lot for me. It’s not little to me, but it’s a lot because I’m grateful and thankful.”

The families here also said they can’t do it alone and hope resources come to help make this feel like home again.

Strong said, “That’s all I need for my family. It’s not much, but we’re asking. We need a hand, we need an olive branch to get back on our feet. We definitely do.”

Tuesday afternoon, a crew arrived at Strong and her family’s home to tarp up their roof. Torrence has also reached out to see if there’s a group that can assist with getting her roof tarped.

Tarps have become one of the main donation items, and the supplies to secure them down.

These items and more are being accepted at 4theVille (4144 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive) and Action St. Louis (The O’Fallon Park Rec Center at 4343 West Florissant Avenue).

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