I completely understand. If we were to experience a freak tornado in a populated area we'd be absolutely f**ked. I would guess that less than 1% of residences in California even have basements. Even light rain results in people acting like its a natural disaster down here in San Diego... Seriously, I couldn't even image how catastrophic a light dusting of snow would be in a city like San Diego or Los Angeles!
There's nothing quite as terrifying as the experience of working in my chemistry lab, on the top floor of our building, surrounded by 100's of bottles of chemicals that can melt my skin off, when an earthquake strikes. Have experienced that a few times... but we have annual evaluations to ensure that all of our facilities and equipment are seismically secured.