ST. LOUIS – The long road to recovery is underway in north St. Louis just five days after Friday’s deadly tornado devastated the area, leaving five dead and dozens injured.

The storm also damaged thousands of homes, leaving many uninhabitable.

Many are still questioning whether the city could have done more to warn its residents in the moments before the storm hit.

St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer said she was shocked and horrified by the details that have emerged regarding the city’s failure to activate its tornado sirens ahead of the storm.

Tuesday night, Spencer placed City Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) director Emily Russell on paid administrative leave, citing her failure to activate the sirens.

“Let me be clear: CEMA exists to alert the community when severe weather is coming. This office failed to do that in the most horrific and deadly storm that our city has experienced in my lifetime.”

Tests conducted this week have also revealed that the fire department’s tornado siren equipment was not fully functional, something the mayor said was also CEMA’s job to check and maintain.

The city tested the tornado sirens again on Wednesday. Spencer said the city’s goal is to automate the system in the near future to prevent this mistake from ever happening again.