Are Planes taking off in Thunderstorms normal?

wrote in news:1178460199.786081.107840
@l77g2000hsb.googlegroups.com:

On 5 May, 22:10, Mxsmanic wrote:
Aircraft normally wait for thunderstorms to pass before taking off. No
aircraft is safe in a thunderstorm.

My last experience was that ATC prioritised landing of aircraft but
prevented take-offs until it had cleared. So there was a large
backlog. It
was emphasised to pax when the pilots (not ATC) were still not
happy to take off as the weather had not completley cleared...
what a bunch of wimps..

That's not the way it works.

Bertie