What the ‘Waffle House Index’ is telling us about Hurricane Milton

As Hurricane Milton inches closer to Florida , thousands of people are evacuating their homes, while more are hunkering down with the supplies they need to ride out the storm and deal with potential impacts . So, how do people know when to stay and when to leave? For many Southerners, the answer might be at their local Waffle House restaurant.

If the Waffle House stays open , people often take that as a sign a storm is not likely to devastate their area. However, if the popular breakfast chain closes down, you need to leave – at least according to the Waffle House Index.

The Waffle House Index is a real, though not scientifically backed, measure of how bad a storm is. It’s not just locals who use it, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) does too, as a way to identify communities most in need of immediate help after a storm.

Take Hurricane Helene, for example. That storm barreled through six states nearly two weeks ago, causing mass devastation.

In parts of North Carolina and Georgia — which bore the brunt of Helene’s impacts — about two dozen Waffle House restaurants are still closed , and several others are only serving a limited menu.

Waffle House has more than 1,900 locations in the U.S., mostly in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic.

The chain, which normally stays open 24/7, 365 days a year, is known for being well-prepared for disasters and either staying open through them or reopening quickly after. It has a limited menu ready to go for when there are food shortages and power outages. It can even put together “ Waffle House jump teams ” to quickly reopen restaurants as soon as it’s safe to after a disaster.

Waffle House has been so good at predicting how bad a storm will be that in 2011, then-FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate was the one who created the term Waffle House Index.

The Waffle House Index has three levels: green, yellow, and red. Because Waffle House already has a plan in place for power outages and limited supplies, the index rarely reaches red.

So, what is the Waffle House Index telling us about Hurricane Milton ? Things aren’t looking great for parts of Florida directly in its path, with dozens of locations closing to weather out the storm.

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