The worst you have seen on the TV. One tornado that tracked 300 something miles hit Tuskaloosa, Birmingham, and Rome Georgia. Most of North Alabama is without power except for the very west counties. Huntsville government is encouraging it's residents to get out of town and stay with friends and relative in places that have power. No power, no can pump gas and no can do electronic banking. The ones who don't want to leave or can't leave are driving to places that have power. Rogersville is one of the places that do. There are three gas stations in town. One has already run out of gas. The two others have lines. The wait is not too long, 15 minutes at most. They are also picking up supplies from the local businesses. Food, water, sundries and camping supplies. Most all have been done in a orderly, well mannered way. But one can see the damage the tornado has done in the eyes of these people. Power won't be restored in less than 4 or 5 days minimum, and in some places predicted it will take 2 weeks. I probably won't have to be back at work until next Tuesday or Wednesday. It will depend on when the power is restored at school. The main reason that power is out is that the main transmission lines that come from the nuclear plant were knocked down. The plant took no damage to its main buildings. My brother was at work that evening leading the teams that shut down all three reactors. They won't be brought back on line until the transmission lines are repaired. Understandably, people are nervous after what happened to Japan.

Tammy, definitely back from the window. Laguna Niguel is near the ocean, isn't it? (I forget; I moved from Manhattan Beach 8 years ago, and didn't get to O.C. much.) They like low to mid 70s, bright, indirect light, and a fair amount of humidity. It's always good to experiment. Good luck and have fun! Korina 'If it's alien, it's ours.' ~Torchwood motto

Thanks for enquiring about us Eileen. Just checking in to say we're all right here in Ottawa and environs. We are thankful for our good fortune. I live just 70 kms south of the epicentre and it was really frightening. There was a loud roar and I could hear and feel it travel diagonally across our house: from the front(west) to the back(east). Both my husband and I were in our kitchen and he realized immediately what it was and said let's get outside. We went out on the deck and it lasted quite a long time. Although the major quake had passed, there was a deep vibration that continued, and kept rattling the cover of the barbeque, and I could see my lettuce plants (in styro. cups awaiting transplant) shaking as this deep vibration continued. The most alarming thing was the sound: this was my first experience of hearing the sound of an earthquake, the house shaking, and everything in the cupboards shaking. We found several drawers open upstairs, and the doors of my husbands wardrobe were flung wide open. Most of the government buildings downtown were evacuated; there were no injuries; a couple of buildings have damaged chimneys and there was quite a landslide on one nearby farm, taking a barn about 200 yards away. No damage, it was just moved intact, but of course it ended up diagonally across a field. The owner is devastated because he bought the farm as an investment for his retirement and now it's worthless. There are lots of large sunken portions throughout the property. Just a few hours later a tornado (we don't usually get them) touched down and wiped out a cottage area on a beautiful lake nearby. Most of the cottages and trailers were not occupied, but it's amazing to see the damage. No life was lost, but there were several broken bones and lacerations. So we have had our share of excitement early in the summer. We also having some rains now, but it has been so dry that I was planting out today and still found some very dry spots. Carol, so sorry to hear about Wayne's brush with nature. She can be so good to us with our plants, and then she throws us these curve balls. I hope the insurance settlement is favourable. Northerner.

Most of my succulents are grown on an east-facing balcony. Although I'm in the southern hemisphere, east is still east, LOL. I found Echeverias/Graptos/Pachys do very well there, especially with our harsh summer, as they don't get direct sun after midday. I even have a few being burnt to death with just morning sun in summer, I think it is the combination of dry summer heat and light here. Aeoniums & Crassulas do grow well, but not getting good color with just the morning sun. Sedums also do well, but tends not to grow as tight (i.e. some etiolation) as in full day sun.