Large events held to clean up St. Louis after tornado, volunteers and donations still needed
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - Governor Mike Kehoe approved the deployment of the National Guard after receiving the request from St. Louis officials Friday night. While the National Guard won’t arrive for a few days, volunteers are hard at work this weekend.
From the Urban League to Forest Park, the work continues on all fronts, as people and organizations try to get St. Louis up and running again.
It’s been eight days since an EF-3 tornado tore through parts of the city.
Monica Zidaru says she was in Forest Park on a walk that afternoon.
“There was an old giant tree next to me, so I just went under the tree. I could see tons of hail and giant tree limbs collapsing from my left and right, and I could feel the vibration of the tree of everything hitting it like large objects,” said Zidaru.
Forest Park suffered from extensive damage.
“There is a significant amount of damage to the trees and the vegetation in the park,” said Anne Grossmann, with Forest Park Forever.
Grossmann says hundreds of trees were downed or damaged.
Zidaru was at a loss for words as she recounted the moments leading up to, during, and after the storms. That experience has been playing in her mind since that day, and she brought herself to volunteer on Saturday because of it.
“I feel like the trees and the forest saved my life that day. (Is that part of the reason you’re volunteering today?) Yes, absolutely, and I will continue to volunteer as much as I can and as often as I can,” said Zidaru.
The tornado’s line of damage stretched from Clayton, ing Forest Park and hitting North City hard. Thousands of people experienced damage to their homes, downed power lines, and were left in the dark for days.
“We’re just now getting lights, so we don’t have any food at this moment, I guess until we get our next paychecks,” said Tiffany Turner.
Tiffany Turner says she had to throw out all of the food in her refrigerator after being without power.
The Urban League of St. Louis is holding a large-scale distribution event on Saturday to give back to those affected while waiting for state and federal resources to become available.
“It is not just something that we’re dealing with in of the potential of health, it’s just the overwhelming devastation of 1.6 billion dollars of an economically depressed area that already needed resources and now just being decimated in so many ways. They have lost everything, there’s nowhere for them to go, they have no way to rebuild, so how do we work to make sure they have resources,” said Michael McMillan, President and CEO of the Urban League of St. Louis.
They provided food, water, household items, pet food, and other essentials for families to have.
The work by all volunteers and organizations is not going unnoticed.
“To get all the wood, the tarps, and the household supplies, that’s a big thing, so I appreciate them doing that for us,” said Turner.
Many, taking the time to help St. Louis get back up and running.
“I’ve always spent so much time here, and I’m always walking the paths, so I want to do everything I can to help and give back,” said Zidaru.
Forest Park recovery information can be found here.
The Urban League of Metro St. Louis resources can be found here. People who need temporary housing can call the Urban League at 314-615-3600 to arrange a voucher.
Copyright 2025 KMOV. All rights reserved.
