Hundreds of St. Louis houses hit by May tornado were vacant. That will hurt recovery.

Hundreds of St. Louis houses hit by May tornado were vacant. That will hurt recovery.

The Post-Dispatch found that 1,175 structures, more than half of those declared unsafe, were likely or definitely vacant before the May 16 tornado.

Hundreds of Homes Hit By Tornado Were Vacant - Construction Forum

From St. Louis Today: In the days after the May 16 tornado hit north St. Louis, tearing apart house after house, city officials pledged to rebuild. Mayor Cara Spencer, who campaigned on reversing the city’s population decline, said a top goal was keeping residents in the city. “We want to keep everybody here in St. Louis,” she said at the time. Now, new data obtained by the Post-Dispatch indicates hundreds of the buildings mangled by the tornado…