Dear Readers,

I am writing this missive to you from what was ground zero for Hurricane Beryl. Our house was spared any major damage, and we are all okay. There are trees and branches down all over the place. Fortunately, we were not among the 2.1 million people without power, most of whom, forty-eight hours after the storm, are still without it. And with the heat index over 105 at that.

Honestly, the wind damage is similar to what I saw during and after Hurricane Ike in 2008, but thank...