Did Waffle House predict the severity of Hurricane Ian?
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When Waffle House closes, you know it’s bad.
As Hurricane Ian swept through Florida on Wednesday, the 24-hour breakfast chain known for staying open — even during many natural disasters — temporarily closed 35 of their locations.
Waffle House is known for braving storms and staying open to provide resources for emergency services and the community.
So this week’s closures were a telltale sign of the severity of the monstrous Category 4 storm that has left a devastating trail of destruction.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has traditionally used the unofficial term ‘Waffle House Index‘ help measure damage in disaster areas.
If the eatery closes or restricts menu items during or after a hazard, they know the community has been dealt a major blow.
A closed Waffle House in Punta Gorda, Florida on Tuesday before Hurricane Ian hit the Florida coast. The eatery is known to remain open to supply emergency services and the community, but 35 were still closed on Thursday
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On Thursday, about 35 locations were closed in Florida, Njeri Boss, vice president of public relations at Waffle House, told PEOPLE. But that number will fluctuate quite a bit, she said.
“We are in the process of reopening restaurants, depending on, among other things, the availability of power, security and staff.”
“We work diligently to continue to serve the communities in which we are based,” she added.
The term “Waffle House Index” was coined by Craig Fugate, former FEMA administrator, during the 2004 hurricane season to measure the effect of a natural disaster on an area.
There are three tiers based on the amount of service the restaurant can provide right after a major storm:
GREEN: Full menu; the restaurant has suffered little or no damage and is at full power YELLOW: Limited menu; the restaurant is running out of food or has limited power RED: The Waffle House is closed due to severe flooding or damage
More than 30 Waffle House sites closed for Hurricane Ian – a telltale sign of the severity of the monstrous Category 4 storm that has left a devastating trail of destruction
People wait in line at a Florida Waffle House Thursday afternoon as some reopen after Hurricane Ian
“If a Waffle House can serve a full menu, they probably have power (or run on a generator),” FEMA wrote on its blog in 2017. ‘A restricted menu means an area may not have running water or electricity, but there is gas for the stove
“The Waffle House test just doesn’t tell us how quickly a company can recover — it also tells how the larger community is doing,” FEMA said in a 2011 blog post.
“The sooner restaurants, supermarkets and convenience stores or banks can reopen, the sooner local economies start generating revenues again – indicating a strong recovery for that community.”
“If a Waffle House store is open and offers a full menu, the index is green,” the FEMA said.
“If it’s open but serving a limited menu, it’s yellow. If the location is forced to close, the index will be red’.
The code not only shows FEMA how quickly a company can recover, but it also shows how the larger community is doing.
“The sooner restaurants, supermarkets and convenience stores or banks can reopen, the sooner local economies will start generating revenues again — indicating a stronger recovery for that community,” FEMA said in a previous blog post.
Waffle House CEO Walt Ehmer joined ‘Fox and Friends’ on Thursday, saying the restaurant has made every effort to prepare but still has locations with significant damage.
“Somehow it’s taken on a life of its own, and that’s something a lot of people ask us at this time of year,” he said.
“We closed everything that was in danger before the storm,” he added.
“Now we’re trying to access where we have power, where we can get people, how we can get people to work.”
Ehmer said the company is working hard to open as many locations as possible.
Locations that have suffered damage — such as broken windows and fallen signs — include stores in and near Port Charlotte, Fort Myers, Punta Gorda and Naples.
“As soon as I’m done with this, I’ll go back to the grill,” he said.
Homes in Fort Myers have been decimated by the storm, with several properties washed away and crashing into other buildings
The extreme damage can be seen in aerial photos, with houses being swept to the water in Fort Myers as trees and buildings were destroyed
In 2018, Waffle House closed 20 locations during Hurricane Florence and 90 during Hurricane Irma in 2017.
The restaurant chain takes its role very seriously. In 2018, it activated its ‘Storm Center’ to track Hurricane Florence.
“If we open soon after the storm, that means the community is coming back and the people are gone, we’re getting back to that sense of normal,” a Waffle House spokesperson said at the time.
“After a storm they really want us to be there to help them because they’re used to us being there the rest of the year.”
Hurricane Ian is expected to wreak further havoc as seawater whips into the Atlantic before targeting South Carolina after ravaging Florida this morning and last night.
Waffle House, especially those in hurricane-heavy areas, is known for its effective handling of disasters
The monster storm is expected to recharge from a tropical storm into a Category 1 hurricane as it curves north toward the peak of the Sunshine State, southern Georgia and South Carolina.
The region is also prepared for more storm surges that could dump massive amounts of water on major cities such as Jacksonville, Savannah and Charlotte.
It comes as Joe Biden warned that Ian could be the “deadliest” hurricane in Florida history with a “significant loss of life” — as hundreds are feared dead after many refused to evacuate their homes.
Meanwhile, Ron DeSantis said the tsunami-like flooding is a “once in a 500-year” event and revealed 2.7 million people are without power in his state.
He has scrambled 50 National Guard helicopters to search for survivors and rescue the thousands who are still stranded, missing or trapped in their homes after extensive damage from the deluge of water and 255 mph winds.
Eight people have been confirmed to have died as a result of the storm in Charlotte County, County Commissioner Chris Constance told CNN.
Good Samaritans are seen in Orange County trying to prevent children from wading through the sudden floodwaters as Hurricane Ian continues to traverse the state
Many emerged from their bunkers on Thursday morning to witness the devastation to their communities, and some burst into tears at the sight of their devastated possessions.
The Lee County Sheriff feared it was one of the worst natural disasters since Katrina with hundreds dead, but he later tempered his comments after DeSantis and FEMA insisted the death toll is unknown.
Still, he did not back down on the claims, simply saying they were tentative, as he also warned that “looting and violence” in the aftermath would not be tolerated.