ST. LOUIS — For Rita Henderson, the shock of returning to her North St. Louis home after it was struck by an EF3 tornado on May 16 was overwhelming. In the midst of the destruction, her house was deemed uninhabitable.
“I couldn’t believe it,” said Henderson, 86. “I’ve been in the house 52 years, and it was just horrible. My roof was across the street, my clothes were scattered in the yard, and my whole front porch was gone.”
Henderson was not home when the storm hit. But like many in her neighborhood, she faces rebuilding without the security of homeowners’ insurance. The tornado left five dead, hundreds injured and thousands homeless. Up to 67% of homes in the three hardest-hit ZIP codes may be uninsured, according to the Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance.
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“I never thought it would happen to me,” Henderson told Straight Arrow News. “You see it on TV, you read about it, but you never think it’ll happen here, especially in your own house.”
For now, Henderson is living with her daughter while her home is slowly cleaned and repaired. She hopes that federal disaster aid can help, though housing advocates warn that assistance often falls short.
The government’s role
“We found that 1 in 13 homeowners nationwide does not have homeowners insurance,” said Sharon Cornelissen, director of housing for the Consumer Federation of America. “More people are feeling forced to go uninsured or underinsured because homeowners’ insurance has become so expensive.”
Disasters, like the May tornado, often expose how deep this issue runs. And the problem could soon be compounded by broader funding uncertainty due to the government shutdown. Lawmakers are now debating how to ensure that FEMA’s disaster response continues uninterrupted.
On Oct. 21, U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell, D-Mo., introduced legislation designed to guarantee that FEMA can continue providing disaster relief and recovery assistance during lapses in federal funding.
“This spring, the St. Louis region was hit by devastating tornadoes, and we couldn’t have afforded to wait for assistance any longer than we did,” Bell said in a statement. “Families rebuilding their lives after a disaster should never have to wait for Congress to get its act together before receiving life-saving help.”
The measure would authorize FEMA to maintain essential operations through the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF). This would prevent money from being diverted or withheld during a shutdown and would classify FEMA’s response activities as “essential” under the Antideficiency Act.
While most of FEMA’s work is considered essential, the agency furloughed about 3,950 of its 24,900 employees during the shutdown, according to an analysis by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC).
Cuts, disruptions and delays
“Even short-term disruptions can delay recovery efforts,” according to the report, especially as the agency already faced staffing shortages and rising disaster costs.
Advocates fear further cuts could exacerbate those delays. The NLIHC warned that attempts to weaken FEMA or shift more responsibility to state governments could leave disaster survivors waiting longer for aid.
Cornelissen said both federal and state governments need to do more to regulate the insurance market and make coverage affordable.
“If rates keep rising, more people will be forced to go without,” she told SAN.
Some insurance companies have stopped offering coverage in states such as Florida due to the unaffordable costs of insuring disaster-prone areas.
Despite her displacement, Henderson remains determined to rebuild.
“This is my home,” she said. “I made it what it is. I had kids in that house. That’s my family, and I don’t want to leave it.”
