Just two days ago, Warner said about 300 locations were in the storm’s path, and 99 of them were susceptible to damage. Dorian’s constant changes have made it difficult to pin down a quick solution, and closures and reopenings could come more quickly than the time it takes to fry an egg. To determine whether shops should fire up the waffle irons or not is tricky. Waffle House plans to roll with Dorian’s punches “Whether or not they like the Waffle House Index, I know they look at statuses of big-box stores to gauge security impact, the ability of those stores to get online and take some pressure off the government response,” he said. Throughout the next few hurricanes, all during his tenure as FEMA administrator between 20, the key became one of the agency’s better indicators of how severely a community had been impacted by a storm, he said.įEMA told CNN it doesn’t base any recommendations for post-storm recovery on the Waffle House Index, but Fugate said consulting with businesses is an important component of clean-up. This doesn’t mean everything’s perfect in the area, but it’s a sign that basic services are intact. Green: Waffle House is up and running at peak condition. This could mean the area is experiencing power outages or water isn’t safe to drink, but people can get around. Yellow: Waffle House is open, but they’re serving a limited menu. If Waffle House is closed, that area was probably hardest hit. It’s a color-coded key used to evaluate the degree of damage done to an area and what resources they need to recover–all based on whether local Waffle Houses are operating. So they codified it–and the Waffle House Index was invented. Related article 2019 Atlantic Hurricane Season Fast FactsĪfter three more major hurricanes struck Florida that year and Fugate and his crew made the cross-state trip three more times, they noticed a pattern. Jose Jimenez/Getty Images South America/Getty Images The official death toll has risen to 43 and according to officials is likely to increase even more. “It just happened that if anything was going to be open, it was always a Waffle House,” he said.Īn aerial view of view of damaged homes in Hurricane Dorian devastated Elbow Key Island on Septemin Elbow Key Island, Bahamas. The further south they drove, the more open Waffle House locations they found while other businesses were dark. They drove for miles, and the only spot they found open for breakfast was a Waffle House right off the interstate, serving a limited menu.

Naturally, they got hungry along the way. The hungry history of the Waffle House Indexįormer FEMA administrator Craig Fugate told CNN the Waffle House Index was born out of coincidence, hunger and necessity.Īs director of Florida’s Division of Emergency Management, Fugate and his coworkers went to assess the damage from Hurricane Charley after it swept across a large swath of the state in 2004. “They think, ‘Oh, this must be pretty bad.’” “Seeing a closed Waffle House is shocking to people,” Warner said. That’s part of its appeal–it’s always there, and it’s always open–sometimes during a hurricane. Waffle House is open 24/7, 365 days a year. They’re ready to operate with a limited menu, but employees won’t be forced to work if officials have ordered mandatory evacuations in the area.

Related article Hurricane Dorian forces Charleston residents to evacuate and threatens landfall in the CarolinasĪs of Wednesday afternoon, Waffle House locations in Hurricane Dorian’s path in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina will remain open during the storm, Warner said.

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