photo via St. Louis Arch skycam
On Friday, May 16, an EF3-rated tornado with winds reaching 152 mph ripped through St. Louis, killing five people and injuring 38. Thousands of homes were damaged as the mile-wide tornado carved an 8-mile path through the greater St. Louis area and then crossed the Mississippi River into Illinois.
When Lake of the Ozarks residents Kevin and Kristine Smith saw the devastation wrought by the tornado, they decided to volunteer. “We have always wanted to help people in a disaster, and now that we are retired, we have the time to do that.”
Kevin and Kristine volunteered with Samaritan’s Purse in the spring of 2024 after a tornado touched down in Rogers, Ark., killing eight people. “We choose to donate and volunteer with Samaritan’s Purse because we know the money goes directly to the disaster effort, and they know what they are doing,” Kristine said. “And they are very transparent.” The organization shows how money is spent on its website, samaritanspurse.org.
(Anyone interested in volunteering, donating, or obtaining additional information may also call 828-588-5711. Be sure to designate that you want to help with the St. Louis disaster. There are also many other organizations and churches through which to volunteer.)
The Devastation
“To see the pictures is one thing,” Kristine said. “But to actually see their faces and talk to the people is an eye-opener. My heart breaks for them.” Many older brick homes were hit, in addition to widespread tree and roof damage. “They told us there are more than 500 homes that will be uninhabitable,” Kristine said.
There is a tremendous amount of work that still needs to be done.
“It is not so much about the work. It is about comforting the people, being the hands and feet of God, and telling them God loves them,” Kristine enthused. “We went up on May 21, and many still did not have electricity.”
“The next most immediate need was putting tarps on roofs to stop the rain from doing further damage,” Kristine said. “But we are older and were not big fans of roof climbing.”
So Kevin and Kristine assisted with cleaning up trees. Kevin is adept with a chainsaw, and together they moved trees and debris to a pile by the street to be picked up. In some places, the tree debris was stacked higher than the rooftops.
Samaritan’s Purse also needs volunteers with skills to help victims repair and/or rebuild their homes.
While working in downtown St. Louis, they said they always felt safe with the group. “The people were grateful for the help, and they came by and greeted us and genuinely thanked us,” Kristine said.
“We met a wonderful lady the first day we were there,” Kristine said. “She cried a lot that day. Everyone was sharing the love of the Lord with her, we held her, and we listened to her story. We wanted to let her know that we and God care about her. She had been through a horrible experience. It means a lot when you just listen.”
Storm Recovery
“We were blessed and encouraged to see the outpouring of assistance in St. Louis,” Kristine said. There are many resources for the victims, including emergency shelter, food, transportation, hydration, pet food, health aid, baby items, free self-storage, charging stations, building supplies, records recovery, and legal aid. Ameren Missouri pledged $250,000 in energy assistance, and Governor Mike Kehoe called a special session of the Missouri General Assembly on Monday, June 2, in hopes of passing a bill to further assist the victims of the St. Louis tornado disaster.
Kristine and Kevin plan to return to volunteer the week of June 2. “People think it’s done, but there is still a lot of work to do,” Kristine said. “Some of them have lost everything. They don’t even know where to start. We are older, so we can’t work for weeks at a time, but we can go for a few days and make the workload lighter. There is joy in serving!”
