Executive Order clarifies implementation of St. Louis City’s protocols for severe weather

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4)—St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer signed Executive Order 83 on Tuesday to clarify the implementation of protocols for receiving notifications and operationalizing severe weather sirens.

The executive order directs the City of St. Louis Fire Department to be immediately established as a designated direct National Weather Service alert recipient. It also calls for written policies to ensure there is clarity in siren activation process and protocols that are shared with the City Emergency Managment Agency, the Mayor’s Office and within City government.

In addition, the executive order directs the City Emergency Management Agency to coordinate with the City of St. Louis Fire Department on implementing the processes and protocols.

The St. Louis Fire Department will test the weather system at 3 p.m. on Tuesday. St. Louis Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson said the test could last up to 30 minutes.

The executive order comes less than 24 hours after Mayor Spencer said that tornado sirens were not properly activated during Friday’s severe weather.

“Within minutes, a massive weather system had hit the ground and was decimating our neighborhoods. In those minutes between the warning and the time we were having a massive weather event, there was a failure. A human failure. A failure in protocol to get the sirens up and running to let the community know there was a massive weather event hitting our community,” Mayor Spencer said.

Mayor Spencer said the protocol in place was from 2021 and that it was not clear who was responsible for pushing that button to turn on the tornado sirens.

Sources told First Alert 4 that the City Emergency Management Agency was not in the office where that button is at the time of the Friday storm, and instead was blocks away in another city building.

Mayor Spencer said she is changing protocol, in the hopes this never happens again.

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