St. Louis businesses impacted by tornado inch toward recovery

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - Businesses that suffered heavy damage following the May 16 tornado are slowly making progress toward reopening.

Jay Johnson, the owner of King Auto, has been able to take on a handful of car repairs despite dealing with insurance companies, roof repairs and damaged equipment.

Johnson had previously utilized his shop as a spot for feeding meals to impacted families in his neighborhood, and has also been collecting debris around Fountain Park.

“It’s been a slow recovery. It’s going to take awhile to get back to 100 percent,” Johnson said. “There’s not a lot of jobs we could do compared to normal.”

Some businesses in the Delmar corridor have been making progress, too, and looking for ways to help neighboring establishments who suffered heavier damage.

A cluster of businesses that includes Steve’s Hotdogs, the Fountain on Delmar and Nixta have announced reopenings later this month. As part of the reopening, Steve’s is part of a group organizing a tornado relief benefit concert to raise money for neighboring businesses and families.

The concert lineup includes the Funky Butt Brass Band with most of the of the band The Urge and DJ Bill Reiter. Steve Ewing, the co-owner of Steve’s Hotdogs and vocalist in the Urge, said he wanted to find a way to the surrounding Delmar Maker District.

“This tornado really moved everything all the way back. We know we have a lot of hard work, even more work,” Ewing said.

Down the street, Dallas Holland, the owner of Beyond Sweet and several other businesses on Delmar is looking for ways to stay in the neighborhood. Beyond Sweet took heavy damage from the storm. Holland said the close-knit business community of the Maker District was part of the reason she wanted to stay.

“If we’re able to go from the east loop to Delmar to the maker district and put on events and work together, that’s an asset,” she said.

Delmar Main Street, which is also helping to organize the fundraiser at Steve’s, is also helping businesses find new commercial space along the Delmar corridor.

Felice McClendon, the director of Delmar Main Street, said the goal was to keep current businesses in the neighborhood.

“It’s very easy for the business community to get left out. People can forget the businesses that employ 10, 20, 100 people,” McClendon said.

Delmar Main Street is also collecting donations for tornado relief on its website.

Copyright 2025 KMOV. All rights reserved.