A storm that brought flooding across the Bay Area this weekend, punctuated by a false alarm tornado warning for San Francisco residents just before 6 am Saturday morning, brought an actual tornado to Santa Cruz County.

That tornado warning turned to be no false alarm for people living in the small Santa Cruz County town of Scotts Valley, though the tornado did not actually arrive until the afternoon.

At around 2 pm Saturday, a surprise tornado touched down in the city's commercial district, bringing wind gusts with peak speeds of 90 miles per hour and a small twister that was seen moving across a parking lot. Over about five minutes, the tornado knocked down power lines, overturned several vehicles, and uprooted trees before then fizzling out.

Five people were injured, including a Cal Fire battalion chief, after his work truck ended up being among the vehicles flipped by the tornado.

Multiple road closures and an overnight power outage followed, with most of the damage being dealt with by Sunday morning.

Scotts Valley police Captain Scott Garner, in a press release, praised his department and other agencies who worked throughout the night to restore normalcy for residents.

"Thanks to these collective efforts, all roads and businesses in the  City of Scotts Valley that were scheduled to be open today are now fully operational with power," Garner said in a statement.

Tornadoes are a rarity in California, with most experts stating that an average of 11 of them touch down in the state per year. Scotts Valley residents, understandably, expressed varying degrees of shock in their statements to the media when asked about their reaction to the event.

“I’ve never seen something like that in Santa Cruz,” one person told local outlet Lookout Santa Cruz. “And I’ve lived here my whole life.”

Photo via Cali/X

Though a huge earthquake is often mentioned when discussing either San Francisco's utter destruction or the only way one might be able to afford property, it won't be the worst thing to happen to the city, insurer Lloyd's of London says.

Known by ignorant people like me as the company that insured Dolly Parton's boobs for (at current exchange rates) $5.77 million, Lloyd's also just launched the City Risk Index, which determines "the potential impact on the economic output (GDP@Risk) of 301 of the world’s major cities from 18 manmade and natural threats."

SF's top threat, per Lloyd's? A massive stock market crash, which would hit us to the tune of $10.53 billion dollars. Second on the list is "oil price shock" at $6.6 B, and third is "cyber attack," at $5.9 B.

In their "San Francisco Fact Sheet," Lloyd's says that though we have "a 63% chance of experiencing a temblor of magnitude 6.7 or larger in the next 30 years," the financial impact would only be the fourth most severe, at $5.67 billion.

"With periodic episodes of storm surges, flash flooding and inundation from San Francisco Bay, the city has almost as much GDP@Risk from Flood as it does from Earthquake," which why flooding is listed at number five, at $5.48 billion, they say.

The risk assessments are "based on original research by the Cambridge Centre for Risk Studies at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School," and "shows how governments, businesses and communities are highly exposed to systemic, catastrophic shocks and could do more to mitigate risk and improve resilience." So, guys, guess that means we all need to get boats.

You can make yourself crazy about SF's various threats of destruction with Lloyd's SF threat page here, and their SF fact sheet here. Have a great weekend!

A number of tech companies stepped up in the wake of the disastrous earthquake in Nepal over the weekend, but so far Facebook seems to have emerged with a surfeit of generosity, as well as a helpful mobile-enabled tool for remotely checking in on potential victims.

Facebook announced today, linking from the top of users newsfeeds, that they would be matching all users' donations (up to $2 million) to the International Medical Corps, which is on the ground in Nepal offering medical relief. So if you want to give to the cause, you can make sure your money is doubled by doing it through that link. The International Medical Corps is currently canvasing devastated towns and cities "distributing hygiene kits, water purification tablets and other supplies to keep families healthy."

Also, Facebook put into action their Safety Check tool, a tool that grew out of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disasters in Japan. It allows users in the area to quickly alert their friends and family that they're OK, and it also sent notifications out to smartphones using GPS data asking if users in the vicinity were OK, if they didn't have access to a computer. As CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted on Saturday morning, when Safety Check was enabled, "When disasters happen, people need to know their loved ones are safe. It's moments like this that being able to connect really matters." It's unclear, though, how much cell coverage there is in remote Nepal and Bangladesh.

Google, which lost one of its employees who was hiking Mount Everest, already pledged $1 million in aid, as ABC 7 reports. And as NBC News adds, they're offering Google Voice calls to Nepal for a penny a minute, down from 19 cents a minute — they chose not to make them free so that hackers didn't abuse the system.

Also, friends of the hiker who was killed, Dan Fredinburg, have already raised almost $50,000 through CrowdRise on behalf of the organization Fredinburg was working for in part, OrphanGift. Donations made in Dan's memory will go directly to help children affected by the earthquake.

Apple is taking donations to the Red Cross's effort in Nepal through the iTunes Store. Uber, also, is donating all the proceeds earned by drivers at Uber Dubai on April 28 to the Red Cross.

Microsoft, also, as TechNet reports, has pledged at least $1 million in technology and connectivity aid to the region, which included an immediate donation to NetHope, which provides internet connectivity during times of disaster. They're also making all Skype calls to landlines and cell phones in and out of Nepal free of charge.

The earthquake that struck Nepal on Saturday measured 7.8 on the Richter scale and was the biggest to strike the region in more than 80 years. The relief effort is expected to cost billions of dollars in a country with one of the lowest per capita incomes in the world — $62.50 a month.

A friendly reminder: a massive earthquake is poised to hit the Bay Area (again), one that will surely cause millions of dollars worth of damage and, most likely, kill dozens of people, if not more. Why not get prepared for that big day? Which is coming. Soon.

Today at 10:17 a.m.—the anniversary of Loma Prieta—the Great ShakeOut happens. What is that, you ask? It's an annual day in which millions of people worldwide practice how to "drop, cover, and hold," followed by earthquake preparedness tips and such. Businesses, schools, and people just like you take part in the annual earthquake readiness day,

ShakeOut.org has more (emphasis ours):

The main point is to not try to move but to immediately protect yourself as best as possible where you are. Earthquakes occur without any warning and may be so violent that you cannot run or crawl; you therefore will most likely be knocked to the ground where you happen to be. You will never know if the initial jolt will turn out to be start of the big one. You should Drop, Cover, and Hold On immediately!

In addition, studies of injuries and deaths caused by earthquakes in the U.S. over the last several decades indicate that you are much more likely to be injured by falling or flying objects (TVs, lamps, glass, bookcases, etc.) than to die in a collapsed building. Drop, Cover, and Hold On offers the best overall level of protection in most situations.

Methods like standing in a doorway, running outside, or the "triangle of life" are considered very dangerous and not recommended. Read more here.

Also, if you haven't already, you should make a plan, build an earthquake survival kit, and learn how to get involved. 72Hours.org is a great resource.

Until then...

We're getting reports that an earthquake just shook a huge swath of the East Coast, from as far north as Boston south to North Carolina. Ooop - our cohorts at Gothamist HQ report it was a 5.8, centered in Virginia! Craziness... and clearly everyone over there, unaccustomed to such things, is freaking out.

Reports are coming in that there was a mild earthquake felt in San Francisco. We felt it too, but it could have been our the washing machine in the spin cycle. "I believe I just felt a 3-4 point earthquake just now," reports one SFist comments.

Update 10:44 a.m.: It hot near Morgan Hill. The quake registered around 4.4.

Update 10:48 a.m.: A "light earthquake" occurred at 10:40 a.m. The magnitude 4.4 event occurred 18 km (11 miles) N of Morgan Hill, CA. No word yet of any injuries.

Here are the details.

Magnitude: 4.4 - duration magnitude (Md)
Time: Monday, March 30, 2009 at 10:40:29 AM (PDT) Monday, March 30, 2009 at 17:40:29 (UTC)
Distance: from Morgan Hill, CA - 18 km (11 miles) N (7 degrees)
Seven Trees, CA - 19 km (12 miles) E (91 degrees)
Alum Rock, CA - 20 km (13 miles) ESE (117 degrees)
San Jose City Hall, CA - 25 km (16 miles) ESE (104 degrees)
Coordinates: 37 deg. 17.1 min. N (37.285N), 121 deg. 37.2 min. W (121.620W)
Depth: 6.2 km (3.9 miles)

Update 10:52 a.m.: According to reports, the quake was felt from San Jose to Sonoma. This morning's mild quake is the perfect reminder for you to arm yourself with a quake safety kit.

Update 10:58 a.m.: The quake has been upgraded and downgraded over the last few minutes, but it's somewhere in the 4 area. Check out reports of this morning's quake here, here, and here. (We commend those of you Twitter users trying your hardest to be droll yet informative after the quake.)

Update: 11:04 a.m.: ABC 7's Cheryl Jennings is the definition of caring calm in the midst of newsroom chaos. Brava, Cheryl! She's talking to callers, giving them kudos for having quake safety kits and for hiding under doorways.

Oh, and make sure you fill out USGC's "Did You Feel It?" questionnaire.