ST. LOUIS — St. Louis officials cleared a longtime encampment along the Mississippi riverfront Friday and ordered more than a dozen people living there to leave, citing high water levels and future risks of floods.
The camp, near the city-owned pavilion where The Admiral riverboat once moored, has been there on and off over the last four years, residents said. But by Friday afternoon city workers had cleared the site and were fencing the perimeter to keep people out.
Residents said a city worker came by a few days ago to warn them about rising water levels, but that they received no other notice the camp would be cleared until police and city workers with trucks appeared Friday.
“We didn’t get any time to make plans,†said A.J. Mitchell. “They just told us it was time to go.â€
K.B. Doman, a volunteer with advocacy group Tent Mission, said the camp was a place where city outreach workers and volunteers knew they could deliver food, and connect people with shelters or other services. The group and other volunteer organizations weren’t told the riverfront camp would be cleared, Doman said.
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“It makes it really difficult to find and reach people when they’re split up and dispersed everywhere,†Doman said.
City spokesman Conner Kerrigan said Department of Human Services outreach workers had warned people weeks ago about the river levels and offered them beds at area shelters, but each person there had declined.
“Workers have been consistently checking on folks and offering them services for several weeks now,†Kerrigan said. “Any statement that we haven’t done outreach and offered services is completely false.â€
Kerrigan said the camp’s proximity to the Mississippi was a safety issue. The National Weather Service flood warning for the St. Louis area is in effect into Saturday.
Kerrigan said the city would fence off the area to prevent people from camping along the riverbed.
“Flood water continues to be a risk as we experience weather and storms throughout the summer,†Kerrigan said. “It’s not a safe place for people to be staying. “
St. Louis has struggled to address homelessness on the riverfront and its downtown area for years, often declaring camps a public health risk and then clearing them, only for other camps to pop up elsewhere. Some residents of the camp said they may move to another, larger camp on private land in north St. Louis.
Mitchell said he moved to the riverfront camp after officials cleared another camp downtown. The shuffle makes it hard to find stability, he said.
“They say you can’t be here and pinhole you, and then they say you can’t be here and they pinhole you again,†Mitchell said. “They just want to make it illegal to be homeless.â€
The riverfront camp was “tucked away†and did not pose a disturbance to people working or visiting nearby, he said. People at the camp had organized their own security and trash pickup, he said.
“Now I’m lost,†Mitchell said.