St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer said the city is planning to use $5 million from its American Rescue Plan Act fund to help stabilize homes damaged by the May 16 tornado.
Spencer said Monday the count of impacted buildings and homes has grown from initial estimates of nearly 5,000 to more than 10,000 in the nearly three weeks since the storm.
During a press conference, Spencer said that city officials had identified $5 million of ARPA funds allocated for stabilizing and weatherproofing buildings that can be used for temporarily repairing residents’ homes.
“We know we’ve got to get these funds out as quickly as possible to really help ensure that residents can stabilize buildings that are badly compromised,” Spencer said. “We want to make sure that in deploying these funds, we're able to protect those buildings for the duration of time it's going to take to really get them rehabilitated.”
It wasn’t immediately clear if any of the $5 million would be used for commercial buildings too. She added that the city would provide more details about the ARPA funding later.
Spencer said her office has also been in discussions with the Board of Aldermen and board President Megan Green about allocating some of the Rams settlement funds for relief efforts.
“We’ll see some announcements coming in the days ahead,” Spencer said.
A new distribution site
St. Louis officials said they’ve secured a new warehouse that will serve as a key distribution center for large donations.
The location of the warehouse is not being disclosed for now due to safety reasons, and officials said it’s still being prepared for use.
The warehouse will allow for large-scale donations to be distributed to smaller hubs throughout the city, Spencer said. It will also serve as a place of contact for community members seeking assistance.
Spencer said this will help organizations like the Urban League, Action St. Louis, ForTheCultureSTL and 4 the Ville, which have been helping residents since the storm.
Spencer said the new facility will help lift the burden off volunteer organizations.
“They've done a tremendous job, and this is a way for us to continue to support those efforts, to support them better and to support them for the long haul,” Spencer said.
The warehouse, which is 140,000 square feet, has been leased by the city for six months for now.
Health oversight
Spencer also announced that Dr. Alex Garza will serve as the health and medical adviser for the city’s disaster recovery.
“Health concerns caused by natural disasters do not end when the immediate disaster is over,” Spencer said. “There are so many lingering health concerns, in particular, when tornadoes hit — lung infections, carbon monoxide poisoning, many other issues.”
She said Garza will help with a long-term approach to advising the public and the city on protecting the community.
Garza currently serves as the chief community health officer for SSM Health. He organized the SSM response to the COVID-19 pandemic and served as the leader of the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force.
“This is the beginning of a long conversation with Dr. Garza,” Spencer said. “I want to make sure that the community — the public — is aware that this work is beginning right now.”
