We're almost to one year since the deadly tornado tore through North St. Louis. The mayor is now rolling out a major piece of the city's recovery plan, funded by money from the Rams settlement. The package directs 110 million dollars to northside tornado relief, plus 30 million for the water department, and a piece for downtown. She also expects the business community to chip in with a match for downtown.
Asked why it took nearly a year, the mayor said the city was waiting on answers from FEMA and the state.
"Here we are with a much clearer picture of what our federal partners can do for our city and what they will not do for the city, as well as what the state is able to provide. So here we are with the most flexible set of funds that the city has. And it would have been irresponsible frankly to start allocating those right off the bat when we were still jockeying for support from those larger pools of money at the federal and state level."
The mayor says the federal disaster response under this administration has looked very different from past disasters. Total tornado damage is estimated at more than 2 billion dollars.
Part of the Rams settlement money Mayor Cara Spencer is putting on the table is aimed at downtown, and she expects the business community to help foot the bill.
Part of the Rams settlement money Mayor Cara Spencer is putting on the table is aimed at downtown, and she expects the business community to help foot the bill.
