ST. LOUIS – Sarah Russell is no longer employed by the City of St. Louis and is out from her role as St. Louis City’s Emergency Management (CEMA) Commissioner,  local affiliate KTVI has learned.

Russell was placed on leave in May, less than a week after a deadly E-3 tornado ripped through St. Louis. The move followed failures within the city’s tornado siren system, which never sounded as the May 16 tornado caused major damage and led to five deaths.

According to a follow-up investigative report on the city’s tornado response, prepared by the law firm Carmody MacDonald and released Monday, in addition to previous KTVI reporting:

• Russell was not in the CEMA office when the tornado touched down
• Russell and CEMA STAFF were instead attending a workshop at another downtown St. Louis location, which left them unable to activate the sirens from the office
• A communications breakdown resulted in no one activating the sirens, so the sirens failed to sound
• Even if the sirens had been activated, the report noted many residents would not have heard them

The report uncovered what investigators called “multiple cascading failures at almost every level leading up to and even after the storm event.”

The investigation found the design and orientation of the city’s siren equipment made it unnecessarily difficult—if not impossible—to fully activate the siren system during the storm. Ineffective testing protocols prevented city officials from learning about these deficiencies in advance of the storm, the report said.

Investigators pointed to a lack of communication and working relationship between Russell and both the fire and police departments.

While fielding questions from assembled media on Tuesday, Mayor Cara Spencer was asked to react to a section of the report where investigators said they were troubled by Russell’s refusal during their interview to recognize the multiple failures or to take any personal responsibility for them.

“I am not here to say anything other than what’s in the report has merit, you know, and we’re moving forward,” Spencer said. “I think in the coming days we will have some clarity on the future of CEMA Emergency Operations.”

The external report recommended CEMA needs to be fully staffed as soon as possible.

Spencer said she stands absolutely committed to making sure the city has a more robust emergency management department moving forward and promised the sirens will go off the next time they’re needed.

Russell appeared before a disciplinary hearing on Monday. When it concluded, she noted the city’s public safety director had 14 days to determine her fate.

Russell served as St. Louis CEMA Commissioner since 2022.