ST. LOUIS—Strong storms "completely overwhelmed" the 911 systems in St. Louis City and County during last week's severe weather, according to a public official in response to complaints about long delays people some say they experienced calling for help.
Officials are investigating the responses after a woman in the city and a child in St. Louis County died during the storm.
The St. Louis Department of Public Safety said that between 3-5 p.m. on Saturday, July 1, it was “inundated with phone traffic.” Officials say there were 1,076 phone communications in two hours, or about nine calls per minute.
It was a similar scene in St. Louis County. “The system was completely overwhelmed,” said Doug Moore, a spokesman for Democratic County Executive Sam Page.
A tree fell on a Jennings home killing 5-year-old Robert Lawrence. A spokeswoman for Lawrence’s family said it took the boy's mother 45 minutes to get ahold of emergency services, and that her son was alive when she first started to try.
The St. Louis County Police Department told Spectrum News Thursday that the call came into the St. Ann dispatch center at 3:41 p.m. and was answered by St. Ann in approximately 39 seconds before being transferred to the St. Louis County dispatch center.
The call was then in the system for 13 minutes, according to St. Louis County Police. When the call taker answered, St. Louis County Police say the caller hung up simultaeously but the call taker immediately returned the call at 3:55 p.m. The call lasted approximately three minutes and 20 seconds.
Officials say the call was entered as a city of Jennings precinct police officer was calling over the radio after a citizen made him aware of the incident. St. Louis County Police officers were on the scene at 3:55 p.m., the same time the call taker was speaking with the caller.
The caller did wait on hold for a total of approximately 14 minutes beginning from the time the call was answered by St. Ann’s dispatch center to when the St. Louis County dispatcher answered the call.
In St. Louis city, 33-year-old Katherine Coen died when a tree fell on the car while she was inside her vehicle on the 4100 block of Chouteau Saturday afternoon.
Helen Petty, a former candidate for St. Louis alderman earlier this year, said on Twitter Saturday that Coen was in her car behind Petty’s business when the tree fell. She then wrote that another person attempted to call 911 for over 30 minutes. Petty says Coen was alive and responsive at first, but by the time someone got through and the fire department arrived, she ultimately did not survive. Petty said Coen had a pulse when crews arrived and the fire department worked tirelessly to save her.
The St. Louis City Department of Public Safety explained Wednesday a 911 caller was able to speak to someone at 3:57 p.m., saying it dispels fears that people were unable to reach authorities for help. A unit arrived to the scene 32 minutes later at 4:29 p.m., according to police. It's still unclear when that first call came into the system.
St. Louis City and County officials want to stress to the public that when calling 911 for a life-threatening emergency, please stay on the line until the call is answered. St. Louis City officials explained Wednesday that “calls are answered in the order received so if they call and they hang up, and then they call back."