What’s this “weather” stuff about?

My grandmother just told me that our friend is in Florida and all the flights out are cancelled. Apparently there are, like, tornados and a hurricane. Now, I might point out at this time that I live in California. I know about tornados from The Wizard of Oz. I don’t really know what a hurricane is. Just wind and rain? that sounds like a pretty boring natural disaster when compared with, say, earthquakes and tsunamis.