Surrounded by destruction, Wayne Mason Sr. recalls hunkering down in his apartment on Bayard Avenue last Friday afternoon with his 21-year-old daughter as the tornado tore through.

Gwen Hudgins had lived in her North St. Louis home for more than 30 years before Friday’s fast-moving tornado leveled it, leaving memories buried under rubble.

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley flew into St. Louis on Monday and headed to the 4200 block of Kossuth Avenue, an especially hard-hit area of north St. Louis.

"It literally had looked like a bomb had just went off," one volunteer said of the tornado's damage in north St. Louis. "Blocks and blocks of homes that are just gone."

On Friday afternoon, an EF-3 tornado struck parts of St. Louis City and County, leaving at least five dead, dozens injured, an estimated 5,000 buildings

When disaster strikes, St. Louis shows up. Help for storm victims is pouring in from seemingly every direction.

The EF3 tornado caused at least $1 billion in damage in the city of St. Louis alone. At the storm’s peak, more than 100,000 lost power. Five people were confirmed dead and dozens of residents were hospitalized with injuries.

Action St. Louis is collecting essential supplies at the O’Fallon Park Rec Complex to provide aid to families and businesses affected by recent tornadoes in St. Louis.

Craig Cole was at the convenience store in his neighborhood of Fountain Park when the storm alerts went off on his phone. He ran to his royal blue Ram truck parked outside.