After tornado, Rolla officials defend decision to hold scaled-down parade; volunteers, safety orders follow

Residents who spoke during citizen comment criticized city leaders for allowing a scaled-down St. Patrick’s Day parade to go forward after an EF‑2 tornado struck Rolla on Friday night, damaging homes, businesses and utilities. City officials, police and university representatives said the decision to hold a reduced parade was made jointly for public‑safety reasons and to provide a security presence for people who had already gathered downtown.

In public comment, resident Michael Kaelyn described widespread property damage and said the city prioritized a parade over checking on residents and managing outages. David Shelby and other residents asked who made the decision and why the parade proceeded. Shelby asked, “Who made these decisions and why?”

Mayor (name not specified) said the decision was discussed at a command center Friday evening with then‑Police Chief Fagan, Chief Roberts from the university and himself, and later with the…