Violent Weather in my Past
@DeborahDiane (40055)
Laguna Woods, California
June 1, 2016 10:51pm CST
In a recent discussion with @ElizabethWallace, I mentioned that I love California weather, even when it is gloomy or rainy, because I have experienced much worse weather on a number of occasions.
In addition to the violent thunderstorms, roof destroying hail, occasional sub-zero weather, and searing summer heat which were a normal part of life during the 25 years we lived in Texas, we also experienced a few "special" events.
First, we went through THREE tornadoes that damaged our home south of Dallas during the first seven years we lived in Texas. One tore down our fence and damaged the roof. One knocked over a tree and left a neighbor's patio roof in our swimming pool.
The third tornado was the worst. The tornado ripped the roofs all every house as far as you could see from our home. It also ripped the end off the gym at the Junior High School ... while one of our daughters was sheltering in the gym. It might have killed myself and our youngest daughter, if I had not opened the door to let a delivery man in, just as the tornado hit. The delivery man and I, together, could not close the door until the tornado passed, but our home received only minimal damage.
After all those tornadoes, we moved to central Dallas, which was not part of the Texas "tornado alley." We thought the worst of the storms were behind us.
A few years later, we went on vacation to Galveston, Texas, where we rode out Hurricane Chantal. No, that was not our intention. We were having a wonderful vacation, not watching the news, and NO ONE told us a hurricane was coming.
We were renting a beach house that was built on stilts. The house swayed so much that water actually sloshed out of the toilets! However, the house survived and so did we.
So, you can see that a little fog or drizzle here in California is barely worth noticing. I think our Southern California weather is perfect! 
19 people like this
16 responses
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
3 Jun 16
@Lucky15 - Floods are a huge problem in many parts of the world ... even Europe right now.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
3 Jun 16
@ElizabethWallace - I also feel a little weird whenever we first get to a tropical area ... even Hawaii. After a few days I feel better, but there is an adjustment period.
2 people like this
@ElizabethWallace (12074)
• United States
2 Jun 16
I have decided to swear off going to the tropics. I never enjoy it much, since the weather makes me so uncomfortable.
3 people like this
@ElizabethWallace (12074)
• United States
2 Jun 16
You were smart. You left. I don't understand why people continue to live in places where the weather tries to kill you on a regular basis. It makes no sense.
3 people like this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
3 Jun 16
@ElizabethWallace - If everyone moved out of the areas that get tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards, flooding, or desperately hot weather, there would be no one living in the Midwest, South, Southeast, or Southwest. I don't really want all those people to move to Southern California! LOL They do build many homes in those areas that are designed to resist most of the weather. However, it is impossible to build structures that are impervious to a really large tornado or hurricane. Look at the damage that Hurricane Katrina did to the AstroDome in New Orleans, and no one could afford to build a house as strong as that! In addition, when we left Texas to move to California, a number of people asked us if weren't afraid of earthquakes. The idea of "the Big One" terrified them! 
When we moved from the south of Dallas to North Dallas, we did reduce the number of weather problems we had ... until that vacation in Galveston! Just our bad luck!
When we moved from the south of Dallas to North Dallas, we did reduce the number of weather problems we had ... until that vacation in Galveston! Just our bad luck!1 person likes this
@ElizabethWallace (12074)
• United States
2 Jun 16
@JohnRoberts Right. I don't get that. Here's another oddity. We prepare for ours as if they happened all the time. Their disasters are many each year, and yet they do not take them into consideration when building, etc. (except maybe Florida).
1 person likes this
@JohnRoberts (109857)
• Los Angeles, California
2 Jun 16
I agree and those people are in stark terror of our once in eons severe earthquakes and wonder how we can live in California!
2 people like this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
10 Jun 16
There is a lot of truth to what your aunt in-law told you. I have seen tornadoes wipe entire towns off the face of the earth!
1 person likes this
@SIMPLYD (90722)
• Philippines
10 Jun 16
@DeborahDiane That's why even if we are frequntly visited by typhoons i am still thankful they are not tornadoes .
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
11 Jun 16
@SIMPLYD - Yes, you usually have more warning about typhoons, so you can go somewhere safe. Tornadoes can pop up during a thunderstorm and suddenly appear out of nowhere!
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (458212)
• Switzerland
3 Jun 16
@DeborahDiane Of course, when you are inside in the air conditioning you are comfortable, people working outside it's another matter.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
4 Jun 16
@LadyDuck - Yes, I often feel sorry for the people who work outside here in California during the summer. It can get very hot, especially inland.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
3 Jun 16
@LadyDuck - Yes, we do get the Santa Ana winds ... but we have air conditioning, so we are comfortable when it gets that hot.
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (137142)
• United States
7 Jun 16
Hmmm... I believe I understand you a little better now, DD.
As a child I remember sitting in the potato bin in our cellar, watching dad and all my older brothers trying to pull the door to the cellar closed while a tornado seemed determined to suck all of them out of the cellar.
Then, when Pretty was 6 years old we were driving to Kansas City, Missouri to go to Worlds of Fun when a tornado decided to skate along beside us. I woke Pretty up and told her to look out her window. She looked at me and sort of dreamily said, "There's a tornado following us." and laid back down in her seat again... I waited a minute or so and suddenly she popped back up and yelled, "There's a tornado following us!" I started laughing... I told her it had been following us for at least ten minutes before I woke her up. The worst it did was make driving a bit fun for a little while.
Apparently, we live in a very high risk area for tornadoes. There have been several times in the last few years when Pretty and I sat on our front deck and watched tornadoes skirt our city to the north of us... Have you ever seen the sky and the very air turn a beautiful spring grass green? It really is something to see, but I suggest you stay on our front deck while watching tornadoes!
Our city is the highest point for quite some distance. Several times the tornadoes have skirted our city, following a natural valley that edged around the city to the north... While we watched undisturbed.
2 people like this
@DaddyEvil (137142)
• United States
9 Jun 16
@DeborahDiane Well, if you insist, DD.... But if you ever do decide to visit mother nature's wilder side again, you have a standing invitation to one of the gliding rocking chairs on my front deck... (the chair beside mine, as a matter of fact) whenever you want.
Uhm... I am hoping you decide to see what I mean just before California falls into the Pacific Ocean... my deck will appear boring enough for you then, I am positive!
Uhm... I am hoping you decide to see what I mean just before California falls into the Pacific Ocean... my deck will appear boring enough for you then, I am positive!2 people like this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
10 Jun 16
@DaddyEvil - Ha Ha! When we moved from the wild weather of Texas to the mild weather of California, our Texas friends all worried about us and asked why we would move someplace with all those earthquakes and where we were in danger of falling into the ocean! LOL So far, the earthquakes have been much milder than the tornadoes and hurricanes! LOL
2 people like this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
9 Jun 16
Yes, I have seen the sky turn green ... which usually means there is either going to be a bad thunderstorm or a tornado. I can imagine that is an incredible sight to see from your deck. The weather here in Southern California is generally pretty boring ... and I love it that way. I have experienced enough violent weather in my lifetime!
2 people like this
@JamesHxstatic (29242)
• Eugene, Oregon
2 Jun 16
No doubt! I am glad you survived all that Texas weather and made it to the relative paradise of southern California.
2 people like this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
3 Jun 16
@JamesHxstatic - I'm glad I survived all that Texas weather, too ... and the rest of our family, as well. Sometimes I am surprised that more people do not die in these storms ... thank goodness!
@prashu228 (37526)
• India
5 May 17
so you are in California since 28years ? wow..nice that you like the place.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
6 May 17
@Hatley - I'm with you. I love living in California and I never want to go back to the Midwest!
@silvermist (19702)
• India
2 Jun 16
@DeborahDiane It is a wonder you survived all those tornadoes.Compared to them,no wonder that you think California weather is nothing to be worried about.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
3 Jun 16
@silvermist - Yes, the weather in California rarely seems a bother to me. I actually enjoy a little rain, fog or mist here because it always seems so mild.
1 person likes this
@silvermist (19702)
• India
6 Jun 16
@DeborahDiane So when you see the weather changes in California,those days in Texas comes to your mind I am sure.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
9 Jun 16
@Marty1 - We have had so much hail at times, that it looked like snow. About ten years ago, it actually snowed in Malibu beach. However, those events are very, very rare and usually only last a few hours before it has all melted away.
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
3 Jun 16
@jstory07 - You are so lucky you have never been near a tornado. They are quite frightening!
@jaboUK (64361)
• United Kingdom
3 Jun 16
@DeborahDiane Yes, September can be lovely here.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
3 Jun 16
@jaboUK - The one time we visited England, during the month of September, it was beautiful! The countryside was so charming!
1 person likes this
@Tampa_girl7 (48964)
• United States
3 Jun 16
We have crazy weather here in Mississippi to. Glad you have better weather now.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
4 Jun 16
@Tampa_girl7 - Yes, the weather in Mississippi can be very much like the weather in Texas ... storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, and summer heat.
@crazyhorseladycx (39515)
• United States
2 Jun 16
those hurricanes're somethin' else, eh? i've been'n a few tornadoes myself'n they aint much fun neither. the path'f destruction always weighs heavy'n the heart.
perhaps the weather's why so many folks've fled to yer neck'f the woods? abundant sunshine 'n beautiful oceans :)
1 person likes this
@crazyhorseladycx (39515)
• United States
3 Jun 16
@DeborahDiane aint that the truth?? i know lots'f folks moved back'n my treasured hills. their fortunes raised the price'f property through the roof! shame i'd not the foresight to've bought land there. i figured the hills'd be the last place californians'd go? ya know, coz'f the humidity, ice storms, tornadoes, ticks, chiggers...
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
4 Jun 16
@crazyhorseladycx - Californians tend to be adventurous, so maybe some of them don't mind the crazy weather where you live! LOL
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
3 Jun 16
@crazyhorseladycx - A lot of people move from Texas to California ... and many move the other way. I think a lot of people who move from California to Texas could be in for a shock!
1 person likes this
@just4him (306266)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
3 Jun 16
I would imagine it is after all you've lived through. I've been in a typhoon when I lived on Guam, and there were a couple tornadoes here, but none that came close to me. The worst I've seen it since I lived in this house was the time it rained so much the streets were flooded.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
4 Jun 16
My husband and I had a lovely visit to Green Bay, one time. It was winter and beautiful. We spent the night in a fishing cabin on a lake about an hour east of Green Bay. The next morning, we got up and walked in the snow along the shore of the frozen lake. Still a wonderful memory for both of us.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
5 Jun 16
@just4him - We loved our visit to Wisconsin. It is one of our better travel memories!
1 person likes this
@just4him (306266)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
4 Jun 16
@DeborahDiane It sounds like you were up in Door County, which is a lovely place to visit any time of the year.
1 person likes this
@JohnRoberts (109857)
• Los Angeles, California
2 Jun 16
Weather is the reason that holds us here in Southern California despite the most insane taxes in the country.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
3 Jun 16
@John Roberts - Here's a surprise. We have state income taxes in California and there are none in Texas. However, the property taxes in Texas are TWICE what they are in California per $100,000. Since my husband and I earned about the same amount in both states and our houses were relatively similar in value (the house in Texas was cheaper), we discovered that our total taxes actually worked out to be about the same.
@kaylachan (57687)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
2 Jun 16
Living in Florida I've road out my fair share of hurricans. I've seen the distructon they cause, and even been on a bus as one nearly hit. I've had my share of bad weather. I'll take the good old Florida heat anyway, thanks.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
3 Jun 16
@kaylachan - Yes, a lot of us get used to the weather where we live ... and we love our homes, anyway!
@Juliaacv (48447)
• Canada
2 Jun 16
You have lived thru some terrible weather in the places that you've lived! I could never live anywhere that experiences such wild weather as a tornado, they sound far too frightening for me. I will take the cold and the snow of our winters over the damaging winds of a tornado or a hurricane any day.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
3 Jun 16
@Juliaacv - Yes, snow can be quite calming. There is nothing calming about living where there are thunderstorms and tornadoes!
1 person likes this
