The City of St. Louis is still waiting for millions of dollars in funding to aid in tornado recovery efforts. Mayor Cara Spencer announced that five million dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) will soon be allocated to the city. However, residents affected by the tornado express frustration over the delay, as they have had to cover recovery costs out of pocket due to the lack of insurance money or government assistance.
Mayor Spencer revealed that the city is finalizing plans to lease a 140,000-square-foot warehouse for storing large donations and supplies for recovery efforts. "We’re very, very pleased that this will be a hub site that will allow us to receive very large-scale donations and then to distribute them to the smaller hubs throughout the community," Spencer said.
In addition to the ARPA funds, the city is considering using money from the Rams settlement to support recovery efforts. Mayor Spencer mentioned that a proposal regarding the use of Rams funds would be presented to the Board of Aldermen soon. "This is a very, very long recovery process, and we want to be very thoughtful and deliberative in how we deploy the funds that are going to be required," she added.
As the city works to secure these funds, the community continues to rebuild, waiting for the much-needed financial support to ease their recovery journey.