Houston Chronicle News Columnist Joy Sewing ended up driving her two children and two dogs around in the car to keep them cool after Hurricane Beryl knocked out power to hers and millions of other homes in the Houston region

With no power and spotty cell service after Hurricane Beryl walloped on Houston, the only thing I knew to do was to load up the car with my kids and dogs and drive around the city to cool off.

My friends with children did the same. An escape from the misery of boiling temperatures and frustrations. No destination. No real plan.

Like many Houstonians, I hoped our electricity would be restored quickly. Each day without power felt like it brought another mountain of stress to find somewhere we could all sleep together in a cool place. Hotels were full or didn't take big dogs. Kennels? Booked.

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BLACKBURN: What we need to learn from Hurricane Beryl

We became nomads. Kids here, dogs there. The drives to nowhere were a way to keep us together and cool.

The texts between parents typically began with, "Do you have power?"

"No. Do you?"

"What are you doing? We're just driving around."

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"Yep, me too."

I recognize our privilege in driving in a car with air conditioning. Our home, now with missing roof shingles and........

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