Crystal Krest and her two children slept in their car on Tuesday night. It was the only place where they could get some cool air near their home in Tomball, Texas.
All the hotels in the city of 12,000 people northwest of Houston were fully booked and their home, which hasn’t had power since Monday morning, was over 90 degrees after nightfall.
“Pretty much everybody in my neighborhood is sleeping in their cars right now because it’s just unbearable,” Krest, 41, told USA TODAY on Wednesday. “We can’t sleep in our houses.”
Officials caution that sleeping in a parked car with the engine running carries the risk of exposure to carbon monoxide exposure and even poisoning if the exhaust system is defective or the vehicle is in a poorly ventilated place, such as a garage. Even outdoors, fumes from a long-running parked car can accumulate and create danger if the air is still. In addition, there’s an increased chance of being assaulted by someone or getting hit by a moving vehicle when sleeping in a car.
More than 1.3 million homes and businesses remained without power Wednesday night across a swath of Texas, battered by once-mighty Hurricane Beryl, which has pushed north and now fuels flood and tornado warnings across much of the nation’s northern tier.
For the last two days, Krest’s family has spent hours in line for gas and meals at fast food chains like Chicken Express and Jack in the Box. With no timeline on when they’ll have power again, Krest bought some bug…
