What Is the Waffle House Index? The True Story From the Man Who Created It, Craig Fugate

Table Of Content

• Muslim Public Affairs Council condemns calls for National Guard to be deployed against protesters
• Gainesville locals utilize the “Waffle House Index” to measure a hurricane’s strength
• Roanoke River Greenway detour begins
• Breakfast Favorites
• How Bad Was The Disaster? Check The 'Waffle House Index'
• Why the Waffle House Index is important when evaluating severe weather events

That’s why, after disasters like Harvey and Irma strike, companies work to offer as much support as they can. In 2022, because of the expected severity of Hurricane Ian, 35 Waffle Houses closed in Florida prior to the storm's arrival, an extremely rare event. Hurricane Ian eventually made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 155 miles per hour (249 km/h), peaking out over the Atlantic Ocean as a Category 5 hurricane. Work and classes will remain remote, and officials are considering keeping the campus closed for longer. The California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt campus will remain closed through the weekend as protesters, including "unidentified non-students," continue to occupy two buildings, school officials said in an update. House Speaker Mike Johnson called Wednesday for the resignation of the university’s president if she can't "bring order to this chaos."

Muslim Public Affairs Council condemns calls for National Guard to be deployed against protesters

Waffle House restaurants have a reputation for staying open during extreme weather — and for reopening quickly after being forced to close due to tornadoes and hurricanes. If you've lived in Florida for a while, you've probably heard of the "Waffle House Index," which is an informal metric used by emergency officials to measure the severity of a storm. The storm team examines what worked and didn’t after every disaster, each time learning new lessons. In Hurricane Katrina — when they closed 107 locations in Mississippi and on the north shore of Lake Ponchartrain — roads were so bad they stashed supplies in a refrigerated semi-trailer with armed guards, and fuel so scarce they brought in their own tank trucks. When Katrina struck in 2005, Twitter had not yet launched; now Bruner uses it not just to alert customers to closings, but to crowdsource whether roads are open and where the power is on.

Waffle House is coming home to CR 220 - Clay Today Online

Waffle House is coming home to CR 220.

Posted: Thu, 25 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Gainesville locals utilize the “Waffle House Index” to measure a hurricane’s strength

The "Waffle House Index," first coined by Federal Emergency Management Agency Director W. Craig Fugate, is based on the extent of operations and service at the restaurant following a storm and indicates how prepared a business is in case of a natural disaster. But that "always faithful, always there for you" restaurant chain that Anthony Bourdain admired so much was ready to serve the community. The local Waffle House was still open, and it's where Fugate and his crew headed to breakfast. The restaurant had found a way around the water pressure issue to remain open, unlike the various other businesses in the area. By this time, surrounding counties were requesting state aid from Fugate to help with recovery efforts.

Roanoke River Greenway detour begins

"We know how important it is for a community to start the recovery process as quickly as possible," Boss says. "The fact that the index is being used, we're proud that our name is attached to it." Originally from the Sunshine State, Ramsey graduated from the University of Florida in the spring of 2018 where he studied both digital and broadcast journalism. "Go down to the Waffle House, they're making coffee by pouring water in the coffee maker out of bottles of water. It kind of shows you the different philosophies," Fugate said.

And red means the restaurant is closed as a consequence of severe damage, flooding or destruction of the restaurant. First, as the storm made landfall, some locations of Waffle House — which boasts that every restaurant stays open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year — would probably have to close because of power loss or concerns for workers’ safety. And second, sometime after they did, someone would invoke the “Waffle House Index,” the slightly flippant measure of how bad a storm can get. "These companies have many stores in the southern part of the United States that are frequently exposed to hurricanes," Kouvelis says. Yesterday, EHS Today, a magazine for environment, health and safety leaders, explained that major companies such as The Home Depot, Walmart, and Waffle House serve as role models in disaster preparedness.

Columbia University Board of Trustees voices support for embattled president

All jokes aside, the Waffle House Index is a very real barometer that is unofficially used by state, local and federal governments to gauge the magnitude of disasters throughout the Southeast. In March 2020, the Waffle House Index went red as restaurants around the U.S. closed during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. Former FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate is the man behind the infamous Waffle House Index. He spoke to Newsweek on Thursday to tell the story of how a morning ritual and a casual observation turned into a nationwide indicator used by the government and millions of people to assess storm damage.

Businesses in communities are often some of the biggest drivers of recovery. If people can go back to work, they can return to at least one piece of a normal life—and that little piece of normalcy can make a big difference. The Los Angeles Police Department arrested approximately 50 protestors at the University of Southern California after campus police gave a dispersal order to demonstrators, according to a CNN crew at the scene. The Columbia University Board of Trustees released a statement Wednesday saying they strongly support President Minouche Shafik, who has faced calls for her resignation amid intense pressure to rein in days-long protests. Negotiations between protesters and Columbia University officials about clearing the encampment on its lawn that had been extended for 48 hours have been “unstable," said Esha Karam, managing director of Columbia Daily Spectator, citing student organizers. "The university is a private campus and the group had been violating some of their orders. It was a trespass at that point and we assisted with the arrests," Los Angeles Police Captain Kelly Muniz said during a briefing.

Why the Waffle House Index is important when evaluating severe weather events

The driving factor behind the Waffle House Index is the restaurant’s philosophy to stay open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So, Fugate and his crew drove south along the interstate until they came across a Waffle House that was open for business. The power had gone out, rendering some of the products in the freezer unusable. Waffle House is one of the several businesses that state, local and federal governments have partnerships with to measure how quickly a community can get back on their feet. It is able to discern certain communities and areas in need of assistance using the large quantity of Waffle Houses dispersed across the nation. "I know that there are lots of other businesses as well that emergency management will look to," Boss told FOX Weather.

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Born and raised in Gainesville, Butler predates the Waffle House he frequents. The term “Waffle House Index'' was coined by FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate in 2011. Fugate, who had previously worked as Emergency Management Director in Florida, recognized Waffle House’s reputation for rapid disaster preparedness. So if its restaurants aren't open, that means the damage has been pretty bad.

We don't have water, we still can operate and if we don't have electricity, we can still operate,” Boss said. One staple of economics and business reporting is the "odd indicator" story. "By 9 a.m., cars were lining up to get into the parking lot. At 10 a.m., the power came back on, the ceramic waffle irons were plugged in and waffles were added to the menu." Waffle House has over 2,000 locations in the U.S., including more than 100 in Florida. FEMA does pay attention to their closures, as it helps them indicate how many people have evacuated from a town.

The index has three levels based on the resources available including manpower, power and food. Green indicates a full menu, minimal or no damage and working power. Yellow implies a limited menu as a result of inconsistent power or food supplies running low.