STLPR0%
One year after the tornado, north St. Louis residents remember and press on 58%
By Katie Grawitch0%
5/17/2026, 12:25:22 AM
BS Summary: This article contains 23 faulty reasoning types, including Optimism Bias, Status Quo Bias, and Anecdotal, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 25.7% saturation with 223 hits. Analysis detected 1,176 faulty-reasoning hits from 867 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 54.6% and a BS Rank of 58% (9,045 of 21,176 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 57.30% of the article peer group.
Centennial Christian Church was once an iconic fixture of the skyline surrounding Fountain Park.
But it was absent Saturday, when people gathered at the park to grieve and reflect one year after a deadly tornado ripped through the St.
Louis area, hitting north St.
Louis particularly hard.
The church was one of many buildings irreparably damaged by the storm.
Longtime parishioner Patricia Pendleton was killed, and two others were injured when the church collapsed.
TheRev.
Dietra Wise Baker, the church’s transitional pastor, said it felt strange to be in Fountain Park without the congregation’s longtime home in view.
“We have third-generation members in our church whose parents built that church,” Wise Baker said.
“But we're going to accept that, move through that, and keep moving each other and the community forward.”
The gathering highlighted both the devastation the tornado left behind and the frustration many residents feel with the pace of recovery.
Thousands of homes across the Fountain Park and other north St.
Louis neighborhoods were damaged, and many residents remain displaced because of severe damage and high repair costs.
Only a fraction of homes damaged by the tornado have been repaired, and some residents fear the destruction may empty some of the city’s predominantly Black neighborhoods.
Still, people gathered at Saturday’s event expressed hope that the north side could rebuild.
Marlon Boykins lives near Fountain Park in what used to be his grandparents’ home.
His house sustained enough damage to warrant a $30,000 insurance payout.
Boykins said that was enough to make the house livable again, but not enough to restore the character of the home.
“Now that the storm has happened, the insurance only wanted to cover the baseline stuff and not the customized mill work and things like that that we were doing,” Boykins said.
“That $30,000 quote could have been about 50 to do it the way we wanted it done.
But we were just fortunate that they were able to come up with something for us.”
Boykins lives next door to a vacant property that was also severely damaged by the tornado and is still in disrepair.
He worries that falling bricks and other hazards could undo repairs already made to his home.
“It's a hazard when it's windy or [when] things blow off of that into my area, so I got to do a lot of cleanup,” he said.
“I just wish [the city] would just get to it a little bit quicker, but, you know, it's a process.”
But Boykins said his neighbors are resilient and came together in the wake of the storm.
“We have really held each other up, even those that are unhoused, that are regular faces around here,” he said.
“They always knock on doors to see if they can do anything, if there's any work, ‘Can I move some of these bricks for you?’
Things like that.
It's amazing.”
The event was organized by 314Oasis, a nonprofit that provides food assistance, housing support and physical and mental health care.
Residents affected by the tornado gathered alongside volunteers and supporters from across the region.
Some people, including Evan Pardue, said they’re frustrated because ordinary people have borne the brunt of recovery efforts.
“The community continues to come together in the aftermath of the tornado,” Pardue said.
“But the government, the way that we've been seeing it, does not really prioritize the needs of our people in the way that we want them to.”
Freedom Community Center and Black Healers Collective, an initiative of InPower Institute, also had a presence at the event.
At 2:39 p.m. — exactly one year after the tornado hit — InPower Institute led a grief ceremony for impacted residents.
Rebeccah Bennett, the founder of InPower Institute, said it’s important for organizations like hers to fill the gaps for those affected by the tornado and recovery delays.
“If we wait for the cavalry to come and to save us, we'll be waiting for a long time,” Bennett said.
“Our sense of community and belonging is going to be just as necessary to our recovery as making improvements to homes and removing debris from communities.”
Bennett said many of the organization’s volunteers are people who live in north St.
Louis and were affected by the tornado.
“We’re not just supporting St.
Louis — we are St.
Louis,” Bennett said.
“Our community members were displaced by this tornado, and yet they still stood on the sidewalk and helped their neighbors eat and get necessities.
We're the St.
Louis that needs help, and we're the St.
Louis that has the ability to provide help.”
Mayor Cara Spencer attended but declined to comment.
While many residents continue rebuilding their homes and waiting for repairs across north St.
Louis, Centennial Christian Church is also looking toward what comes next.
Wise Baker said the church will rebuild in a new location with a renewed focus on serving the neighborhood’s food and housing needs.
“Community outreach ministries have always been a part of that church, so that's not going to stop,” Wise Baker said.
“We hope for a more impactful, vibrant, and revitalizing form for the community.”
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100%flagged-word coverageEvan Pardue
59 attributed words11% of attributed speech61% writer coverage
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