As Hurricane Ian pummeled Florida ’s western coast on September 28 , 2022 , news broke that street were flooded , houses had been swing out away , and Waffle Houses were close . The last detail seems like an rum thing to focus on — but it ’s actually a sign of dire situations .
There are a lot of way of life the Federal Emergency Management Agency ( FEMA ) assesses and treat the severity of a natural calamity . Meteorology can omen movement patterns , wind blast , and precipitation . Resources are dispatched to areas strike heavily by torrential weather .
But when the delegacy need an exact , land - layer gage for how a community is make do during a crisis , they turn toWaffle House .
Since 2004 , FEMA has used what former administratorCraig Fugate dubbedthe “ Waffle House Index . ” Because the casual dining chain is open 24 hour a day , seven Clarence Day a week , tracking to see if a location is close or working with limited supplies can help inform the bureau as to whether moved areas are ailing or taking steps toward normality .
“ If a Waffle House is closed because there ’s a disaster , it ’s bad,”Fugate told NPRin 2011 . “ We call it red . If they ’re undecided but have a modified bill of fare , that ’s yellow … If they ’re green , we ’re good , keep go . You have n’t found the speculative stuff yet . ”
For FEMA , the power to order a denture ofsmothered and covered hash brownsis an important analytic . If a Waffle House is having trouble getting stock , then transportation has been interrupted . If the menu is limited , thenit ’s possiblethey have some utility but not others . If its locations have locked their threshold , inclement weather has taken over . The concatenation ’s locations would ordinarily remain opened even in severe conditionsto helpfirst responder .
storm are n’t the only reason a Waffle House may shutter . In March 2020 , theWaffle House Indexwent red as eating place around the U.S. close during the former weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic .
A version of this story ran in 2018 ; it has been updated for 2022 .
