I also grew up in Florida (I was in Miami for Andrew... fun times). A tropical storm is a significant weather event. It is especially the case for places that d

I also grew up in Florida (I was in Miami for Andrew... fun times). A tropical storm is a significant weather event. It is especially the case for places that don't get this kind of weather. "Just" is completely inappropriate in the context of Hillary hitting California. Florida tends not to flood due to the sandy soil and limestone. Its trees tend not to fall over (imported Banyans notwithstanding) because palms and pine don't present much canopy to the wind. Flooding is typically only something that happens in low-lying areas due to storm surge. Florida homes are built to withstand hurricane force winds (at least since Andrew). It has storm systems designed to handle a lot of water all at once. California has clay soil in a lot of places. It doesn't absorb water quickly. It has different foliage that won't handle the wind as well. It has building codes for earthquakes, but probably not for significant wind events. I have no idea how much water the LA storm system can handle all at once. I live in NC now and even here, tropical storms cause trouble because our soil doesn't drain well and the density of trees is a lot. Even just a bad thunderstorm last week knocked out the power for 100K homes.