We get thunderstorms frequently. We had a few yesterday as well but the one the other day wasn't a typical one even though on the radar map it doesn't look very different from a run of the mill summer storm. This one had some really freakish winds. Everybody in my neighborhood had their roofs totaled by golf ball size hail a couple months back and that storm was nothing compared to this one. Over 500,000 electrical customers lost power. We finally just got power back to the office early this morning but 120,000 electrical customers are still without power. This UPS truck pulled over during the storm about a mile from our office and was blown over.
Yeah, that's some good stuff there! We had a 70 mph wind storm come through today, but it only lasted a couple of hours, luckily there was no hail in the town proper. I don't much fear tornados but that hail is something else entirely.
Summer is the worst time to be without power, I feel for you there.
I'd still much rather live in a place with a severe thunderstorm season than a place with a wildfire season.