“Waffle House Index” Predicts Hurricane Impact
Over 300 Waffle House locations nationwide are temporarily closing, including a handful in the Tampa Bay area. Most will remain open for takeout.
Waffle House has more than one hundred restaurants in the state of Florida.
And these restaurants are known for toughing it out and staying open even when weather conditions are scary. They also reopen quickly after weather events.
Have you heard of the “Waffle House Index”? It’s actually a way, albeit informal, that emergency officials measure a storm.
This methodology came about in 2004 while Hurricane Charley was rolling through by the (at the time) Florida Emergency Management Director, Craig Fugate.
Here’s how it works: When a Waffle House closes before a hurricane, you better believe extremely severe weather is on the way, and it is time for folks in that area to get out.
Fugate explained the index to FOX Business. He said, “If it was open and had a full menu we probably weren’t in the worst-hit areas yet.”
Here are the three levels of the Waffle House Index:
GREEN: Full menu; the restaurant sustained little or no damage and has full power
YELLOW: Limited menu; the restaurant is running out of food or has limited power
RED: A completely closed Waffle House
Njeri Boss is the Vice President of Public Relations for Waffle House. He explained, “We actually have a storm playbook that every restaurant has. We revise it each year as needed. And it tells the management team what to do in the event of an emergency.”
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Wednesday Morning Hurricane Ian Update: Now a Category 4, Catastrophic Surge Expected For Southwest Florida
The strength of Hurricane Ian is frightening. It’s possible Ian could reach Category 5 status. Although the storm’s track still is south of Tampa Bay, this is still going to be a very brutal day in our area. Here are the latest observations from Denis Phillips and his team from ABC Action News along with other experts.
For more information, visit our Storm Center on our homepage.
Roxanne is a co-host on the MJ Morning Show and host of Middays on Q105 in Tampa Bay. She also hosts segments on The Current, which features local feel-good stories and health and wellness segments, and airs on five of the six Tampa-based Beasley Media Group stations. Roxanne has conducted hundreds of interviews, from athletes to Oscar winners, including Matt Damon, Christian Bale, and Chadwick Boseman. She also specializes in media training, having worked with clients in the NFL, NBA and WWE for television, in print, and online. Roxanne is a published author and will be releasing a thriller novel in 2024. Her favorite thing in the world is being with her two daughters and husband. As a content creator for Q105, Roxanne writes about family activities in the Tampa Bay area, as well as reviews for local restaurants and travel.