Blame “They / Them” For The Deaths In St. Louis

When Incompetence, Negligence, and Entitlement collide, it’s usually a recipe for disaster. That combination proved deadly in St. Louis when those in charge of the emergency alert system failed to warn the public about an approaching tornado that resulted in five deaths.

Last week, deadly storms passed through St. Louis, and when they were needed the most, there was literally no one home at the City Emergency Management Agency (CEMA). That reality has resulted in St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer placing Sarah Russell, the Commissioner of CEMA, on leave following a failure of the city’s tornado sirens during last week’s deadly storm.

The decision to place Russell on paid administrative leave comes amid an internal investigation into her office’s actions on the day of the tornado. The sirens, which are essential for alerting residents to severe weather, failed to activate, resulting in significant damage in parts of St. Louis.

At a news conference, Spencer stated:

“Let me be clear: CEMA exists to alert the community when severe weather is coming. This office failed to do that in the most horrific and deadly storm that our city has experienced in my lifetime.”

The mayor did make it clear that CEMA was responsible for maintaining the buttons at the fire department and in the CEMA office.

Mayor Spencer said part of the investigation is determining how long it hasn’t worked and whether anyone knew it was broken.

“I have been shocked, and I remain shocked and frankly a bit horrified by the issues in the system,” Mayor Spencer said.

The National Weather Service radar indicated a tornado touched down between 2:30 and 2:50 p.m. local time. It initially struck near central St. Louis before ripping through the area, with officials estimating some 5,000 people were affected.

Five people in St. Louis were killed in the severe weather, officials said.

The investigation looked into why CEMA staff, including Russell, were not present in the office during the expected storms. Instead, they attended a workshop at a different downtown location, which prevented them from activating the sirens from the office.

I find this aspect of what happened very disturbing. As a kid, I remember my father saying, “I don’t need someone on TV to tell me what’s happening with the weather. All I have to do is stick my head out the window.” I share that memory because the office where Russel was attending this “workshop” was approximately a half mile away from the CEMA office. It is unconscionable to think that the head of the City Emergency Management Agency couldn’t discern that nasty weather was on the way and that “They/Them” needed to get back to the office to notify the public.

Russell did contact the fire department to request the activation of the sirens; however, unclear communication resulted in no one sounding the sirens. Mayor Spencer’s office released audio of the call between Russell and a fire department dispatcher, highlighting the ambiguity in the directive to activate the sirens.

After discovering the sirens had not been activated, Mayor Spencer quickly ordered an internal investigation. The immediate focus was on resolving the issue, which she addressed by changing the siren activation protocol to assign the responsibility for activating the sirens to the Fire Department. However, as the investigation progressed, it became evident that there were multiple serious issues rather than just one. The mayor has instructed her staff to initiate an external investigation to explore these problems and any other potential concerns thoroughly.

During testing, it was discovered that the button to sound the sirens at the fire department was not functioning. Spencer noted that, based on that finding, an additional external investigation would be conducted.

After the sirens failed to activate, Mayor Spencer signed an executive order to revise the siren activation protocol to prevent similar issues in the future. According to the new protocol, only the Fire Department will be responsible for activating the sirens, and this will be managed from a staffed office at all times.

The Mayor’s Office is releasing documents and an audio recording of the phone call between Russell and the Fire Department to provide the public with a clearer understanding of what went wrong on Friday.

“The failure to activate the siren during the tornado has justifiably angered the people of St. Louis, myself included. While my top priority in this matter is to ensure this never happens again, our community deserves full transparency and accountability.”

A standard operating procedure for activating the siren system, which appears to have been drafted in 2021 by Russell but may never have been fully implemented, is released in full and states, in part:

“The outdoor warning siren system is to be activated at the primary activation point, the Fire Alarm Office at St. Louis Fire Department Headquarters. If the

activation cannot be completed at the primary activation point, immediate contact must be made with the Commissioner of CEMA to activate the system from the secondary or tertiary activation points.”

The standard procedure for activating the sirens was that CEMA would initiate the system. If CEMA was unable to do so, they would promptly contact the Fire Department, which would then activate the sirens. To add to the confusion, the outdoor warning siren fact sheet on the CEMA website states, in part:

“Current policy states that the sirens are to be activated for a:”

• The National Weather Service issued Tornado Warning
• The National Weather Service issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning, which has been designated DESTRUCTIVE
• The system may also be activated by direct order of the Commissioner of Emergency Management for any other imminent threat to any portion of the City of St. Louis.

Sirens in the City of St. Louis are activated at the Fire Department Dispatch Center or the City Emergency Management Agency.”

With the mayor’s executive order, the previous lack of clarity has been addressed. To ensure the siren system functions properly when needed, the Fire Department tested the sirens today. During this test, it was discovered that the button at the Fire Department was not working. Therefore, the Fire Department activated the system from the CEMA office instead. Repairs for the button began on Tuesday afternoon and are expected to be completed within a few days. Until the button is repaired, a member of the Fire Department will be stationed at CEMA 24 hours a day to activate the siren if necessary. Once the button is fixed, the City will perform another test to confirm the system’s functionality. This test will also assess how many sirens were damaged by Friday’s storm. The City will continue testing until all issues with the siren system are identified and resolved.

Confused Yet? Let’s see if I can distill this down. The first mistake was appointing Sarah Russel as the Commissioner of CEMA. “They/Them” has been the head of this dumpster fire since 2021. How “They/Them” was appointed has caused the DEI debate to raise the question about deprioritizing competence in favor of demographics, potentially weakening preparedness in life-and-death scenarios.

Critics of Russell’s appointment have raised concerns that it was influenced more by DEI priorities than by proven qualifications in emergency management. Although there is currently no direct evidence linking DEI to the leadership decisions at CEMA, the incident has sparked a broader debate regarding the consequences of misaligned priorities within public institutions.

One must ask, even if it is proven that DEI hiring/promotion practices were at the root of this disaster, will the truth ever be revealed to the public? Draw your own conclusions, but there are two buttons that can trigger the emergency sirens, and one of them didn’t work. That’s important information, don’t you think?

Following that train of thought, ask yourself, shouldn’t the Commissioner of CEMA be aware of the fact that the button at the fire department didn’t work? If “They/Them” didn’t know that … how is that possible? If “They/Them” did know it, then why was no one at the CEMA office to push the only button that did work?

The fact that a vague call concerning activating the sirens from the fire station was made by “They/Them” is indicative of a major problem.

Five people lost their lives, and 5000 people had their world turned upside down because of total incompetence. As Commissioner, They/Them has no excuse and needs to be sent packing with all pronouns in tow.