Faye, thank you for your concern! All's well here although fifteen minutes southwest from us 30 people lost their houses, long fence sections were torn down, bbqs down, cars damaged, etc. no losses of lives, thank goodness! We're so grateful we escaped any damage. The hostas were all tucked under a tree, neck to neck or pot to pot..the larger hostas providing shelter for the smaller ones...couple leaves seemed to be bent but not broken. Missed the hail, whew! Here is a pic or two of some of the Angus homes damage...

That's just terrible. What's wrong with people? Somewhere along the way did parents stop teaching their children to clean up after themselves? Moni, I'm glad you drew some attention to the mess left behind by people who ought to know better! Our county has long allowed the use of the courthouse basement as a public storm shelter when there is a tornado warning. A couple of years ago, the county commissioners decided to stop the practice because people were leaving trash behind (and lots of it) in the basement of the courthouse. After a public outcry, they reversed their decision but reserved the right to stop allowing its use if people continued to leave a big mess behind them when they left the basement. I haven't heard how that's working out since we live out in the country and have our own shelter, but find it ridiculous that people cannot clean up after themselves. Also, when we are headed to the tornado shelter, grabbing snacks and drinks to carry with us is not exactly what is on my mind at the moment.

No, Tami...The tornado was one near Hennessey, Oklahoma in Garfield County. They just kept showing it over and over on CNN and Fox News, especially when it ripped apart the hog barn. Two OKC stations chase tornados in helicopters. Do they do that elsewhere? After the wedding reception last night--once I knew the storms had passed and all was OK--I laid down in that hotel bed and was asleep within minutes. I didn't realize it had been so stressfull! (Well, that PLUS the hotel reservations that were totally screwed up...*sigh*) I linked to a CNN story below, which also contains a link to video footage of it leveling the barn at the hog farm. Oh my... Here is a link that might be useful: Link to CNN story

jemdandy, I'm going to disagree with your geographic interpretation for California. I understand the map is just an approximation, but I see the northern-most one being the SF Bay area, then Monterey to the south, then likely it's the Vandenburg missile site on the coast north of Santa Barbara. Of the two inland dots, one may be the Lemoore Naval Air Station, the land site for carrier based fighters and other planes. I don't know what the other is. There's nothing south of these, nothing in LA, nothing in San Diego. Some of your other comments are off the mark too. Most of the shipyards in the SF Bay area have long been closed. Oakland is an active container port but I don't think plastic toys from China are viewed as a strategic target. Lick Observatory on Mt Hamilton is an important astronomy site, with optical telescopes. It may have seismological instruments as any other academic site does but astronomy is it's game.