Work continues rebuilding and repairing homes after tornado
ST. LOUIS – It’s been just over 101 days since the destructive May 16 tornado struck parts of St. Louis. For some, it still feels like yesterday.
“The absolutely strangest thing about it is we’re still living with it,” Ville resident Dan Corwin said. “They’re tearing down a house right here and I’m living in one with water damage from it. You go two blocks, and some people never would have known it existed.”
On Monday, a crew from Modern Masonry are working on repairs to a home damaged by the EF3 tornado.
“The roof was torn off, so the house has to be, the parapet wall, back wall, re-laid and tuckpointed,” James Booker, Modern Masonry, said.
St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer signed Executive Order 90 on Monday, offering help to property owners about permitting process for rebuilding from the tornado. The order instructs the building commissioner to expedite permit applications.
"I don’t know how you do any better with the amount of damage that was done,” Corwin said. “This goes on for 2.5 miles. We’ve got four houses in a row that fell down, and then two that didn’t.”
For his part, Corwin has taken it upon himself to help his neighbors by learning roofing repair over the last 100 days. He’s worked on four flat roofs since May 16.
“They’re cleaning up the gutters and cleaning up the piles in front,” Corwin said. “We always can do it faster but there’s just a lot, a lot of stuff to be done.”
