Hi Roger,

My Mother was born in Loot, Kansas. Her family went through a tornado when she was young and she said her brother who was playing the piano at the time found himself tied up in the clothesline outdoors with a board from the piano attached to him.

They moved to Alamosa, CO after that. I've been there and its ok, but I like Colorado Springs best from the little time I've spent there.

But I'll tell you, in the way of thunderstorms Seattle has some really big ones. I lived there for five years and one of them was so intense the lightning was striking every few seconds, with lots of fork lightning in every color of the rainbow. It lasted for over an hour and I was in awe the whole time, but not one least bit fearful. You would have had to get a crow bar to bring me away from the window.

But I can see that experience with lightning and earthquakes has taken most of the fear factor away from me. Not that I'd like to live through another big one, but to experience a moderate quake and take in all that's going on at once, to me is rather exciting.

Petra