ST. LOUIS – Lindell Briscoe lives on East Adelaide, a north St. Louis street where a tornado blew a roof off a home last month. 

There are noticeable improvements on the block.  At the same time, there are signs recovery is a long way away.

“Once it gets dark outside, this street is completely dark because we still don’t have streetlights,” Briscoe said.

He said a resident recently approached him asking for help paying her phone bill.  That interaction prompted Briscoe to launch a petition asking utility and telecom companies to suspend customer bill payments for affected residents.

“Give them a month or two grace period so that they can catch up on their bills,” said Briscoe.

Ella Peterson is a longtime resident of the same neighborhood.  She said bills are piling up for residents faced with making tornado repairs.

“It’s depressing,” she said.

Peterson believes the neighborhood will bounce. 

We contacted several utility and telecom providers about what help for customers living in tornado-damaged areas.

AT&T included this link with a host of ways the company has been helping customers and the community. 

Verizon also provided FOX 2 a link about its support for customers and the community. 

A spokesperson for Spectrum tells customers in the affected area will receive an automatic credit covering the days that they didn’t have service after power was restored. The credit will appear on their next bill with no action required by them.

Spire recently announced that it will suspend disconnections for non-payment, as well as service initiation and reconnection fees for customers impacted by the tornadoes through Sept. 2025.  The company is offering extended payment arrangements.

Spire customers in the St. Louis region impacted by the recent severe weather are encouraged to call 800-887-4173 for more information.

Spire also donated $15,000 to the American Red Cross Greater St. Louis chapter and $10,000 to United Way of Greater St. Louis toward their disaster relief efforts.

Ameren tells us in heavily impacted areas, the company paused disconnections, is waiving upfront deposits for new service for 90 days, making available a special payment arrangement requiring 20% down for 90 days, and increasing available funds through a variety of programs.

Eligible households may receive up to $500 and may bundle with other assistance programs. 

The company also made a combined $1 million donation to agencies providing disaster relief.