“I said I would come back, sweep off the steps, and have myself a drink,” said Osirus Willis, far right, who enjoys a cocktail with friends amid the rubble of her tornado-damaged house that was just demolished three days earlier, on May 10, 2026. Since July, Willis has been living in the house next door while remaining in the Greater Ville neighborhood, but is now moving to a new place in East St. Louis. “I am not mad at all," said Willis. "Sometimes you have to be done and move on. Ever since this has happened my life has flourished. Sometimes God has to move you."
Steve Moore, 77, gets ready to cut the grass around his home in the 2800 block of North Taylor Avenue on May 5, 2026. The houses on either side of Moore’s, which were heavily damaged by the May 2025 tornado, were both torn down and the debris was removed. With many more heavily damaged buildings still in the immediate area, Moore says he would love to see more progress. "Tell the mayor to spend some of that Rams money up here,” said Moore, who says he did not have homeowner’s insurance and still needs help with porch repairs and tuckpointing.
“Right now, the neighborhood just needs help,” says Cherrick Kramer, who carries a wooden beam from the second floor of his tornado-damaged home that he found while burning away storm debris on May 7, 2026, in his yard in the Kingsway East Neighborhood. Kramer says he will rebuild his house, which he might move back into or might turn into a hospice or a home for men just out of prison. Either way, he wants to buy the vacant lots next to his property from the city, which he says he has been taking care of for years.
Workers carry materials to repair a house, left, next to another tornado-damaged house that was vacated in the Central West End neighborhood, on May 7, 2026. The owners of the house on the left have been living elsewhere during the year-long repair process, which they estimate could take another year to complete. Still, they decided to buy the damaged house next door, right, after its owners decided the work was too much to take on.
Tornado-damaged buildings wait to be demolished in the 4500 block of St. Louis Avenue on Thursday, May 7, 2026, in the Greater Ville neighborhood of north St. Louis. Less than a tenth of the buildings requiring demolition in the tornado path have come down, including more than 1,000 buildings that appear to have already been vacant, like most of these.
Homeowner Jeanette Robinson looks over what will be her new back porch at her tornado-damaged house in the Kingsway East neighborhood on May 6, 2026. Robinson, who has lived in her house for 54 years and grew up on the street, credits the nonprofit Grassroots Redeeming Love for rebuilding her home. Until recently, she was sleeping on the couch while waiting for the back wall and windows to be finished in her bedroom.
Jay Aikens poses May 9, 2026, in his family home in St. Louis’ Greater Ville neighborhood. He was renovating the house when it was severely damaged by last year’s tornado. Aikens received assistance from FEMA, but says he never fully recovered financially so he plans to sell and leave the state.
Legaci Brisco, 9, runs while playing tag with cousins on May 5, 2026, on St. Ferdinand Avenue in The Greater Ville neighborhood of north St. Louis. Her grandmother is renting a rebuilt tornado-damaged home on the block, while her own damaged house just down the street is still being repaired.
The storms will be capable of producing quarter-sized hail, 60 mph winds and weak tornados.
“I said I would come back, sweep off the steps, and have myself a drink,” said Osirus Willis, far right, who enjoys a cocktail with friends amid the rubble of her tornado-damaged house that was just demolished three days earlier, on May 10, 2026. Since July, Willis has been living in the house next door while remaining in the Greater Ville neighborhood, but is now moving to a new place in East St. Louis. “I am not mad at all," said Willis. "Sometimes you have to be done and move on. Ever since this has happened my life has flourished. Sometimes God has to move you."
Tornado-damaged buildings wait to be demolished in the 4500 block of St. Louis Avenue on Thursday, May 7, 2026, in the Greater Ville neighborhood of north St. Louis. Less than a tenth of the buildings requiring demolition in the tornado path have come down, including more than 1,000 buildings that appear to have already been vacant, like most of these.
Jay Aikens poses May 9, 2026, in his family home in St. Louis’ Greater Ville neighborhood. He was renovating the house when it was severely damaged by last year’s tornado. Aikens received assistance from FEMA, but says he never fully recovered financially so he plans to sell and leave the state.
Steve Moore, 77, gets ready to cut the grass around his home in the 2800 block of North Taylor Avenue on May 5, 2026. The houses on either side of Moore’s, which were heavily damaged by the May 2025 tornado, were both torn down and the debris was removed. With many more heavily damaged buildings still in the immediate area, Moore says he would love to see more progress. "Tell the mayor to spend some of that Rams money up here,” said Moore, who says he did not have homeowner’s insurance and still needs help with porch repairs and tuckpointing.
“Right now, the neighborhood just needs help,” says Cherrick Kramer, who carries a wooden beam from the second floor of his tornado-damaged home that he found while burning away storm debris on May 7, 2026, in his yard in the Kingsway East Neighborhood. Kramer says he will rebuild his house, which he might move back into or might turn into a hospice or a home for men just out of prison. Either way, he wants to buy the vacant lots next to his property from the city, which he says he has been taking care of for years.
Workers carry materials to repair a house, left, next to another tornado-damaged house that was vacated in the Central West End neighborhood, on May 7, 2026. The owners of the house on the left have been living elsewhere during the year-long repair process, which they estimate could take another year to complete. Still, they decided to buy the damaged house next door, right, after its owners decided the work was too much to take on.
Homeowner Jeanette Robinson looks over what will be her new back porch at her tornado-damaged house in the Kingsway East neighborhood on May 6, 2026. Robinson, who has lived in her house for 54 years and grew up on the street, credits the nonprofit Grassroots Redeeming Love for rebuilding her home. Until recently, she was sleeping on the couch while waiting for the back wall and windows to be finished in her bedroom.
Legaci Brisco, 9, runs while playing tag with cousins on May 5, 2026, on St. Ferdinand Avenue in The Greater Ville neighborhood of north St. Louis. Her grandmother is renting a rebuilt tornado-damaged home on the block, while her own damaged house just down the street is still being repaired.
