The chances of a tornado coming near you are very rare. The event that happened here in Oklahoma City is something that even in the metropolitan area hasn't happened for probably 50 years.

If you see a thunderstorm in early May in Nebraska, say, your immediate reaction is the possibility of a tornado. Elsewhere, the seasonal cycle falls apart quickly. It never goes to zero threat, but never gets all that high either.

Gosh, thats a hard one. I think I would take personal items, clothes and family photos, things that can't be replaced. I would make sure my children and grandchildren got to safety, which is the first thing I would do. Then I would worry about what I could replace later.

She had a flair for doing things in a very elegant way. At the same time, you felt like you were right there in her living room. She paid attention to people so that she was seeing to it everyone's little needs and egos were met.

In the last five years, we have started honing in on things that help us distinguish tornado-producing conditions.

We have tornadoes [nationwide] 180 days a year, every other day, and we have significant tornadoes probably about 60 days a year. It requires a fairly delicate balance: Even if you have a thunderstorm, you don't necessarily have a tornado.

They were people where the words 'rowdy' or 'beer-drinking' are putting it mildly. She had this elegant house with great artwork. But she made them all feel at home.

The American Red Cross will be working over the next three years to get more than one million additional families in the Bay Area prepared for a large earthquake. This handbook will play an important role in our training efforts.

It was very down to earth. Nobody felt awkward that they didn't know how to act in front of royalty. Pat felt like we're all human beings.