TORN: Special reporting series examines one year of St. Louis tornado recovery

This week, St. Louis Public Radio (STLPR) published installments of a weeklong reporting series on the aftermath of the May 16, 2025, tornado that cut a 23-mile path through St. Louis neighborhoods.

Through a year of on-the-ground reporting, the STLPR newsroom documented the recovery effort, interviewing residents, community organizers, elected leaders, historians, disaster researchers, and FEMA and insurance experts.

"Over the past year, our team approached every story about the tornado with one guiding principle: to put our community first," said Rob Edwards, STLPR's managing editor of news. "We knew these stories were about more than damage and recovery. They were about people, neighborhoods and a community working to rebuild."

"I'm incredibly proud of the dedication, compassion and persistence our journalists brought to this coverage," he said. "They spent countless hours listening, reporting and telling stories that informed our audience while honoring the experiences of those impacted."

Collaborating across beats

In shaping coverage, newsroom specialists collaborated on the best ways to tell multiple sides of a complex story.

"A disaster at this scale demands reporting immediate public health and recovery news while also staying on top of longer-term threads that demand accountability from our institutions," said Brian Heffernan, managing editor of audience and product. "Forming our newsroom's tornado committee was essential for us to stay organized and focused on what residents in the path of the storm needed most from us."

• In weekly meetings, journalists discussed interviews, reviewed records and data, identified emerging themes and coordinated coverage priorities.

• Beat reporters in education, economic development, politics and community issues collaborated and shared information throughout the yearlong reporting process.

Public records and document reporting

STLPR reporters and producers interviewed more than 60 tornado-impacted residents for this series at the station and at their storm-damaged homes.

• Investigative teams reviewed public records and analyzed recovery timelines.

• Reporters attended community meetings to better assess the local, state and federal response.

• Our journalists conducted multiple interviews with St. Louis City Mayor Cara Spencer, Chief Recovery Officer Julian Nicks, and other members of the city administration to better understand decision-making around recovery operations and communication.

Inviting community

In addition to written and broadcast reporting, STLPR hosted a series of in-person community listening sessions across the region, allowing people to speak directly with reporters about their experiences.

• Responses shared shaped subsequent reporting on:
  
  • debris removal,
  • communications breakdowns,
  • insurance issues,
  • and inequities in neighborhood recovery efforts.

Efforts to collect those stories will continue for the months ahead.

On Saturday, May 16, STLPR engagement editors and reporters will attend Park2Park: A Day of Remembrance One Year After, an event organized by 314Oasis, to hear from residents about their reflections on the one-year mark of the May 16 tornado.

Learn more about STLPR's reporting process for the TORN series.

Read and Hear the TORN 11-Part Series

MONDAY: Parts I-III

Is FEMA all to blame? How decisions in City Hall also slowed St. Louis' tornado recovery

St. Louis mayor fiercely defends City Hall's tornado recovery: 'I'm very proud'

How STLPR reported 'TORN,' a series marking one year since the deadly May 2025 tornado

TUESDAY: Part IV

'We want to hold on to our legacy': North St. Louisans fear tornado will empty community

WEDNESDAY: PART V-VI

How neighbors crossed the Delmar Divide to rebuild after the tornado and found hope in each other

One house at a time, the Nolan family is rebuilding their tornado-damaged block in north St. Louis

THURSDAY: PART VII

3 stories of life post-tornado: Unaffordable insurance, a Katrina flashback and condo confusion

FRIDAY: PARTS VIII-IX

Black St. Louisans say the tornado crushed their homeownership dreams

5 things St. Louis needs to do prepare for the next natural disaster

MONDAY'S STORIES: PARTS X-XI

Five people were killed by the storm that resulted in the May 16 tornado. We revisit some of the families and friends of those lost to understand what life has been like a year after losing their loved one.

See the complete series.