About Dr. LJ Punch
Dr. LJ Punch is a contributor to the Counterpublic 2026: Coyote Time exhibition catalogue, which will be available to the public in September 2026. Their commissioned essay speaks to the current moment in St. Louis and the aftermath of the EF-3 tornado on May 16, 2025.
Dr. LJ Punch is a trauma surgeon whose support in the aftermath of the tornado led to the founding of 314Oasis, a collective effort in community care. Learn more about how to support their work here.
“Through the years I’ve learned that presence is a kind of permission for honesty. My work is not to imagine that I can bear the weight that someone else holds, only the commitment to not look away.” — Prentis Hemphill, What It Takes to Heal (2024)
It had been five days since the EF-3 tornado of May 16, 2025, tore through the heart of St. Louis. Malia sat beneath a tattered white tent, eating beans, rice, and chicken from a Styrofoam container as a gentle spring breeze brushed her shoulder and lifted her hair from her face.
“I don’t know what we are going to do now.”
The roof of her home was badly damaged and leaking. Rain was in the forecast again that evening. Her bed and dresser were visible from the street, the front wall of her second-story apartment ripped apart like a sheet of paper. Tree limbs and trunks still lay strewn across the front yard, blocking the porch steps. A pile of trash and debris was rising at the corner of Aubert and Fountain Avenues. Neighbors charged phones on a solar battery and shared donated flashlights, trash bags, and batteries. Healing frequencies filled the air from a Bluetooth speaker as relief workers did their best to comfort the community. Then, in piercing disrespect, a siren filled the air. Blue and red flashing lights made a streak of purple down Kingshighway.
They were not coming for us.
We all exhaled.
“The day of the tornado, those were the only sirens we heard.”
