How Waffle House Helps Southerners and FEMA Determine Storm Severity

Golden brown, gravy-smothered biscuits and crispy waffles smothered in maple syrup are traditional Southern comfort foods. But when a hurricane hits a Southeast city, the hot meals and bold yellow sign of a local Waffle House provide a different kind of comfort.

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Golden brown, gravy-smothered biscuits and crispy waffles smothered in maple syrup are traditional Southern comfort foods. But when a hurricane hits a Southeast city, the hot meals and bold yellow sign of a local Waffle House provide a different kind of comfort.

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Golden brown, gravy-smothered biscuits and crispy waffles smothered in maple syrup are traditional Southern comfort foods. But when a hurricane hits a Southeast city, the hot meals and bold yellow sign of a local Waffle House provide a different kind of comfort.

If a Waffle House is open in town, even at limited capacity, nearby residents feel reassured that the approaching storm is unlikely to cause a disaster. The closure of a trusted chain of restaurants signals an impending disaster. This indicator is known as the Waffle House Index.

It may sound like silly logic, but it's one of the most reliable ways for Southerners, and even federal officials, to gauge the severity of a storm and pinpoint areas most in need of emergency aid.

A Waffle House sign is seen closed in anticipation of Hurricane Milton, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in Newport Richey, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson).

About two dozen Waffle House locations remained closed Tuesday in the Carolinas and the chain's home state of Georgia, nearly two weeks after damage caused by Hurricane Helene. A few others are open but serving limited menu items.

As Hurricane Milton approaches Florida, many Waffle Houses along the Gulf Coast, including Tampa, Cape Coral and St. Petersburg, are being forced to close.

What is the Waffle House Index?

Popular in the South, it is an informal measure by disaster officials of how severely a storm will or has affected a community.

The map of Waffle House's 1, 900+ locations, concentrated in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic, helps residents in storm-prone states assess whether they are likely to lose power, suffer major flooding or endure other extreme conditions that make resilient restaurants. Restaurants will close. It helps determine whether they should evacuate.

Waffle House is known not only for serving breakfast 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, but also for its disaster preparedness. For decades, Southerners have noticed that their local Waffle House seems to be the only business that stays open during storms, or is one of the first to reopen after a storm has passed.

The restaurant chain's reputation for being open when people desperately need a place to warm up, charge their appliances, and get a hot meal has made it a pretty reliable (if uninteresting) source of information for tracking recovery efforts. The company also runs its own storm center, which Georgia Governor Brian Kemp visited on Tuesday.

How the Index Works

Waffle House's social media shares color maps showing the locations of restaurants in certain areas that will soon be affected or recovering from storm damage. The Federal Emergency Management Agency also provides live monitoring.

Green means they're serving their full menu and indicates minimal damage to the surrounding area. The lights are on and the syrup is flowing.

Yellow means the restaurant is serving a limited menu and is drawing power from a generator. There may be no running water or electricity, but there's enough gas to fry bacon for hungry customers.

Red means the location is closed and indicates unsafe operating conditions or significant damage to the restaurant or nearby area.

How did this indicator get started?

Former Craig Hugate FEMA came up with an indicator of a waffle house when he was conducting an emergency management activity in Florida in 2004. He searched for food while investigating the damage status of the Hurricane Charlie, but could only find a waffle house that offers a limited menu.

His team began to observe other waffle houses operating in areas without power outages and taps. The restaurant eventually became an important feature of a color map provided by his team, which would help public institutions and local authorities to identify the most serious places.

Hugate continued to use the color map when he participated in FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) under President Barak Obama. In 2011, he was the Secretary of FEMA when the deadly tornado, the Missouri Joprin, attacked. Both towns in the town have become vacant houses.

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Preparing to destroy this restaurant chain is not a coincidence. In the 2005 Hurricane Catrina, seven stores were destroyed and 100 stores closed.

According to the company's website, they immediately adopted a business strategy focusing on maintenance of restaurants in the event of a disaster. According to the chain, he invested in a portable generator, purchased a mobil e-type command center, and trained employees about what could be provided even if a power outage.

What are the indicators of Hurricane Milton?

Waffle House has shown that Hurricane Milton landed several stores in Florida before landing, and the area was likely to be severe.

Milton was heading to the center of the West Coast of Florida and could hit the tampa and centrityberg directly. Residents were strongly recommended to evacuate.

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I tried out the Roomba j5+ right after renovating my house Credit: Clara Wolsey

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Amazon has slashed the price of the j5+ by £270 as part of its Big Deal Days discounts Credit: Clara Wolsey

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Certainly the dogs didn't like much at first, but I was so. It took a little time to get used to it, and my teeth were sorry for about two weeks.

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