Five people are confirmed dead and others are injured after severe thunderstorms and a tornado hit the St. Louis region on Friday. The city issued a curfew for police Districts 5 and 6, which make up neighborhoods north of Forest Park, until 6 a.m. Saturday.
The National Weather Service said radar confirmed a tornado around 2:30 p.m. The storm caused damage in Clayton, University City, the Central West End and neighborhoods in north St. Louis.
St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer said there were five confirmed storm-related fatalities during a press briefing Friday evening.
鈥淲e're going to have a lot of work to do in the coming days, there is no doubt there but tonight, we are focused on life,鈥� Spencer said. 鈥淪aving lives and keeping people safe and allowing our community to grieve.鈥�
A spokesperson for BJC Healthcare said St. Louis Children鈥檚 Hospital had received 15 patients; two have been admitted to the hospital. Barnes-Jewish Hospital received approximately 20 to 30 patients with storm-related injuries, some in critical condition.
City officials request that people stay off the roads and avoid using cellphones. St. Louis Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson said several cell towers were affected.
鈥淲e're gradually getting the cellphones back up and the cell service back up, so we're going to see some of the calls increase,鈥� Jenkerson said.
Social media posts showed trees in roads and damage to buildings and cars throughout the area. Hail was also part of the storm.
There was significant damage on North Euclid Avenue in the Central West End. During the tornado, Aesha Moorehead said she had to open doors to get people to safety.
鈥淲e felt the lights go off, and then the building shook, and then all hell broke loose,鈥� said Moorehead, assistant property manager of Roosevelt Town Apartments.
Moorehead said the storm was bringing the community together to clean up debris.
鈥淚t feels good to see everyone working together,鈥� Moorehead said. 鈥淗onestly it鈥檚 a good thing. It sucks that it had to get to this for us to work together, but it鈥檚 beautiful to see.鈥�
Westminster Place was also hit hard by the storm, with branches falling on cars and leaving residents without power.
The Central West End hasn鈥檛 witnessed a storm like this in years, said Fred Falker, a 42-year Westminster resident.
鈥淲e're probably still a little bit in shock,鈥� Falker said. 鈥淏ut we did get the street clean so we can actually drive down the street.鈥�
Many Westminster residents took to the street to help out neighbors.
鈥淓verybody grabbed what they could, saws, handsaws, chainsaws, everything,鈥� Westminster resident Brandon Hall said. 鈥淎xes, cutting up trees, carrying logs, getting them off people's cars.鈥�
Hall and other neighbors helped clean up the street, moving branches. Roofing company workers were already out in the neighborhood.
More than 115,000 Ameren customers as of 4:30 p.m.
Other Central West End residents left for the evening after losing power.
鈥淚'm going to go stay with family in Belleville,鈥� said Maggie Burnworth, who rents an apartment complex on McPherson Avenue.
Another McPherson resident who owns an apartment said his home suffered from broken windows.
鈥淲hen I got into the basement, I heard a huge, loud racket outside, and then the building started shaking,鈥� Myron Dyer said. 鈥淭hen the power went out.鈥�
Outages also caused the Red Line between Wellston and Central West End and the Blue Line between Maplewood-Manchester and the Central West End. Bus shuttles will transport passengers in those areas.
The Missouri History Museum announced it was closing for the rest of the day because of the storm. The St. Louis Zoo is also closed for the rest of Friday and Saturday because of damage. A said that all animals were safe and accounted for, and that there were not significant injuries of any staff or visitors.
Some businesses and organizations also reported damage, including on Delmar Boulevard and the in Brentwood.
St. Louis Public Schools said that some school buildings at Beaumont Technical Center, Sumner High School, Soldan High School, Washington Montessori Elementary and Hickey Elementary are damaged. The school district is evaluating the damage and will inform parents if any schools are canceled Monday or if students will be moved to another school.
The storm also damaged the set for Shakespeare in the Park鈥檚 production of "Hamlet" in Forest Park.
The National Weather Service issued tornado warnings for the Metro East and south of Rolla as storms moved through the region.
Until the weather service goes out to survey damage, it does not officially confirm there was a tornado or the likely tornado鈥檚 strength. But radar during the storm showed strong rotation and debris, which led to the radar confirmation.
St. Louis continued to be in a tornado watch until 7 p.m.
Rachel Lippmann, Jeremy Goodwin and Miya Norfleet contributed to this report.
This story has been updated.
