St. Louis, a Victim of Man-Made Disasters on All Levels

On midday May 16, an EF3 tornado slammed the city of St. Louis. One of the neighborhoods that suffered an unprecedented hit was the North Side. This area is home to Black working-class families and businesses. Years of disinvestment made it even more vulnerable to the 160-mile per hour winds. The devastation was staggering.

There were many emotional moments. There were five fatalities, dozens of injuries, and thousands traumatized. Some people lost everything as houses were reduced to rubble. Volunteers were overwhelmed by the enormity of the disaster relief. My moment came a few days later as I walked the ruins of the ravaged North Side.

It wasn’t just the utter devastation. I’ve witnessed firsthand my fair share of man-made disasters – the Great Flood of ’93 in St. Louis, Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, etc. It was the thought of the real possibility that no help was coming from the government. The catastrophic event came at a time when DOGE cut funding to FEMA. The same time that the Pentagon approved trump’s yacht in the sky. The same time as the crypto gala. The same time that House Republicans passed trump’s big, ugly bill. St. Louis has yet to be declared a disaster area by trump because he’s too busy wheelin’ and dealin’ with his billionaire buddies.

Economists are calling the ugly bill the greatest transfer [theft] of wealth between classes in U.S. history. It means lavish tax breaks for the wealthy while cutting the safety nets for the working poor, like Medicaid and food stamps. MAGA land will be dancing to the bank while people are dying.

There ought to be a law against this kind of abuse. Oh wait, the lawmakers who should be making such laws are part of the racketeering posse! Calls to your U.S. senators to stop the bill is imperative.

To add salt to the poor folks’ wounds, trump’s net worth has doubled to $5.4 billion in his first 100 days in the White House. He hauled $2.5 billion in his first presidency and has publicly vowed he won’t be so stupid as not to exploit his position to enrich his personal bank accounts to the hilt.

The family business empire dealings have become intentionally indistinguishable from trump’s dealings in commerce and trade as U.S. president. All this is happening in plain sight while political observers scratch their heads in bewilderment as to what can be done with the rogue president.

While trump, his family and his super rich cronies loot the public coffers, poor and working people are facing economic hardships for years to come. And there will be no life jackets for those who are also victims of environmental catastrophes. Because of global warming, these events are expected to be more frequent and more violent than ever.

I know that many judges who understand constitutional law have struck down some of trump’s draconian actions. He is blatantly in contempt of some rulings, and the courts seem powerless to stop him. The legislative branch refuses to launch Amendment 25 that would bring this corrupt and crazy man to task.

Musk has found out that attempting to destroy a democracy is not as easy as it looks and it comes with consequences. He is leaving the oligarchy to salvage his brand. Tesla profits dipped 20% in the first quarter of 2025. Four of his Starship launches have exploded and crashed, a metaphor for Musk’s performance as the DOGE dude.

We in St. Louis are up to our eyeballs in the relief and recovery process. While we are dealing with this disaster, we hope that other defenders of democracy will continue the struggle while we are taking care of each other. It is difficult to see a vision of rebirth and prosperity in the face of an unfolding tsunami of suffering. Yet, I know there’s no greater time than now to fight for a Phoenix plan to build a powerful and thriving community.