Storm was born in Bloomington, Texas, United States. The youngest of five children, she had two brothers and two sisters. Her father, William Walter Cottle, died after a year-long illness when she was just 17 months old, and her mother, Minnie Corina Cottle, struggled to rear the children alone.
Storm's elder sister Lois gave her baby sister the middle name "Owaissa", a Norridgewock Native American word meaning "bluebird". Her mother took in sewing, then opened a millinery shop in McDade, Texas, which failed, and finally moved her family to Houston. Storm learned to be an accomplished dancer and became an excellent ice skater at Houston's Polar Palace.[citation needed]
Storm attended Holy Rosary School in what is now Midtown, Houston. She performed in the drama club at both Albert Sidney Johnston Junior High School and San Jacinto High School.

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