Top of Mind Thursday – July 30, 2026: Dog Days of Summer

Greetings from Jerusalem, where it’s an expected to be an unusually high 94 degrees this weekend.

While that is unusual for this city (which sits at elevation), it’s not too bad when you consider huge swaths of France and Spain are on fire, due to extremely dry and hot conditions.

Severe weather has resulted in flash flooding in places as far apart as Texas and Brooklyn (!), as well as extremely dry conditions in much of the US.

While there is no way to predict exactly what weather catastrophe will strike at exactly the right time, there are patterns that are fairly easy to spot. For example, the section in Texas the flooded last week is exactly the place where a girls’ summer camp was decimated last year.

What lesson can we take from this?

We know there will be risks, but we can mitigate them. We can cut back shrubbery and plant growth to prevent fire spread. We can make sure emergency preparations are in place and family members know what to do in a crisis situation.

We can do this with our businesses as well. We may not know what challenge will hit us next, but we can be prepared for those occurrances that are most likely. . . before they become too hot to handle.

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