The daughter of a man who was killed in a destructive tornado in St Louis is suing the city over her father’s death.
Deborah Patrick claims that her father, Larry Patrick, had no way of knowing a tornado was inbound when it struck on May 16 after warning sirens failed to go off.
The 82 year-old was killed when a tree crashed down on his home in the city’s O’Fallon neighborhood, St. Louis Public Radio reports.
The storm struck parts of the Midwestern and Southeastern states, as part of a flurry of 60 destructive tornadoes. It eventually moved across to the Upper Midwest but killed dozens in its path. Seven people died across Missouri, and dozens more were injured.
St Louis Mayor Cara Spencer said in the days after the tornado struck that the outdoor sirens never went off due to a “human failure”. Five people were killed in the city by the storm, with Spencer calling the losses “truly, truly devastating’ at the time.
The family’s lawsuit was filed Tuesday in St. Louis Circuit Court and is seeking at least $25,000 in damages. Patrick’s daughter claims her father had no way of knowing he needed to flee to safety and was left in a vulnerable position when the tree struck.
The lawsuit also alleged that the city failed to adequately maintain the tree and had dismissed her father’s complaints about it being unsafe in high winds.
According to city records seen by SLPR, a complaint was submitted to the city’s Forestry Division in August 2023 for a broken and hanging tree limb, along with property damage. There was no mention of pending litigation. The Independent contacted St. Louis City for comment.
The tornado that hit St Louis was an EF3 that generated winds between 136 and 165 mph, according to the National Weather Service. The mayor pleaded for help from the federal government and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the aftermath of the devastating weather event.
“We need partners at the national level, at the federal level, to step up and help — and this is not just true for St. Louis,” city Mayor Cara Spencer told MSNBC at the time. “Cities across the nation, when they are experiencing disasters such as this, this is what the federal government is for.”
Earlier this month, Missouri senators approved a plan to provide over $100 million in aid for the tornado-ravaged city. The package also authorized$25 million for emergency housing assistance and a $5,000 income tax deduction to offset insurance policy deductibles.
