As Hurricane Milton approaches into central Florida, residents are keeping an eye on the “Waffle House Index” to see how it will affect their area as it passes through and the recovery process gets underway. Hurricane Milton is predicted to make landfall late on Wednesday.
Popular restaurant business Waffle House covers a region vulnerable to hurricanes and other severe weather, with numerous sites from the mid-Atlantic to Florida and along the Gulf Coast.
Waffle House has made it a priority to reopen as soon as possible after disasters, and the Waffle House Index was created as a way to gauge how a storm might affect a particular location.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Hurricane Milton was rated as a Category 4 storm. It is expected to make landfall over Florida’s Gulf Coast, bringing with it severe winds and “life-threatening” storm surge.
After that, it is expected to go through central Florida and reach the Atlantic Coast of the state.
The Waffle House Index indicated closures as of Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. ET in the Tampa Bay-St. Petersburg region and in Fort Myers on the Gulf Coast. Waffle Houses in the Miami and Gainesville areas stayed open, although closures were reported in the Orlando, Ocala, and Daytona regions of central Florida.
These updated #whindex status maps reflect our closures as of 2PM this afternoon in advance of #HurricaneMilton. Please stay safe.
***Due to the potential for variations in Milton’s path, this information is subject to change without notice. Please follow local guidance. pic.twitter.com/vqV3RO5KT4
— Waffle House (@WaffleHouse) October 9, 2024
Njeri Boss, vice president of Waffle House’s food safety and PR, stated that, “Our mission remains to keep our associates out of harm’s way.” To better serve the communities that have supported us over the years, we are thus proactively closing restaurants in regions that are expected to be severely damaged and intend to reopen them as soon as it is safe to do so.
“Locations in areas predicted to be in the path of the storm and likely to suffer significant damage, or where mandatory evacuations have been ordered are places where preemptive closures are taking place as a safety precaution.”
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The meaning of the Waffle House Index
The Waffle House index has three levels that represent the quality of service at a particular restaurant. These levels can also provide information about the extent of damage and whether the area’s power is operational.
Green suggests that Waffle House has power and has suffered little to no damage, as it is currently serving its whole menu.
The color yellow indicates that the Waffle House has a restricted menu due to either a power outage or the usage of a generator, or inadequate food supplies.
After a destructive storm tore through Joplin, Missouri, in 2011 and two of the chain’s stores stayed open, Craig Fugate, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) at the time, created the Waffle House Index.
“What happens if the Waffle House is closed when you arrive? That is extremely awful. Fugate stated that the Waffle House Index serves as a gauge of the extent of damage caused by a natural disaster.
By: foxbusiness.com
