Or, it could be somethign more physiological - related to a panic attack triggering while you're sleeping. The panic could conceivably create a panic image, which would then create a self-feeding cycle until you wake up. It's not uncommon.

Recurring dreams do usually mean that there is an underlying concern that isn't being solved (just as contrast said), though it doesn't necessarily mean you thought it was sovled before. You could be repressing it, avoiding it, or simply ignoring its presense and it would still hold the same effect in dream-speak. That this is a end-of-times image tells me that this is a very VERY urent need, and that it involves some sort of change (death in dreams in more about change and transformation than it is about actually dying...the loss of something you once had/were in exchange for something new yet to be seen).

I'd be willing to bet that you've repressed something, since in every dream you're far away from (distancing yourself) the source of the destruction. I question though whether this is a dream directing you to take action, or to brace for something bigger. The impacts in the dream look like things that even if you addressed them, would be unavoidable. The old saying goes "duck and cover (and kiss your butt goodbye)!" Maybe you've been avoiding or distancing yourself from this dilemma for so long that now all oyu can do is hold on tight and wait for the change to happen (and it will; it always does).

Also, all of these dreams keep the same theme of old familiarity (friends, family, and your old home). It's like your subconscious is acknowledging that all this distancing is happening in you living in the past. Has this been a problem? What are you tryign to avoiding dealing with by doing so?