Some hurricane watchers measure the storm with the Waffle House Index

Table Of Content

• After a hurricane, the 24/7 restaurant provides one measure of how infrastructure and supply chains are holding up.
• How FEMA uses Waffle Houses in disasters
• Columbia University Board of Trustees voices support for embattled president
• Anti-war protesters dig in as some schools close …
• (great) Mother’s Day gifts
• Here's how the 'Waffle House Index' measures a hurricane's potential impact

Over the years there have been several news articles to come out about a little something called the “Waffle House Index.” This index is pretty ingenious—it relies on the open or closed status of the well-known diner chain in disaster-affected areas. 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. "The delays are behind us and we are moving full steam ahead to complete the new restaurant in San Diego, shooting for a late-summer, early-fall opening," Sam White, financial and business advisor for Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles told NBC 7.

After a hurricane, the 24/7 restaurant provides one measure of how infrastructure and supply chains are holding up.

One story that is particularly uplifting is the exchange between chains Publix (from Florida) and H-E-B (from Texas) in that they have provided mutual support—Publix helped raise money for the Red Cross after Harvey and H-E-B sent supplies to Florida after Irma. Mr. Cato, 38, is still making his own music when he’s not onstage revving up the “Late Show” crowd. "He's [Herb] like, 'This is going to be the place for it.' And it's right outside of downtown. So we felt it would be a great location," Diane Vara, then Creative Director for Roscoe's House of Chicken ‘N Waffles told NBC 7 in 2022. Barrio Logan was chosen as a location by owner Herb Hudson, who toured various areas in San Diego including North Park. A GoFundMe has been set up in support of the family of the 74-year-old security guard, Rosalind, who was shot while working at the Waffle House.

How FEMA uses Waffle Houses in disasters

As [FEMA Director W. Craig Fugate] often says, the Waffle House test doesn’t just tell us how quickly a business might rebound – it also tells us how the larger community is faring. The sooner restaurants, grocery and corner stores, or banks can re-open, the sooner local economies will start generating revenue again – signaling a stronger recovery for that community. The success of the private sector in preparing for and weathering disasters is essential to a community’s ability to recover in the long run. As Craig [Fugate] often says, the Waffle House test doesn’t just tell us how quickly a business might rebound – it also tells us how the larger community is faring. Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Waffle House is famed for more than just its all-day breakfast.

Columbia University Board of Trustees voices support for embattled president

The conceptual renderings show a two-story white building with a big neon "Roscoes" sign outside and patio seating. At WSLS, we are committed to informing and delighting our audience. In our commitment to covering our communities with innovation and excellence, we incorporate Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to enhance our news gathering, reporting, and presentation processes. Read our article to see how we are using Artificial Intelligence.

OPINION WHERE I'M WRITING FROM: Reading my words at the Waffle House Arkansas Democrat Gazette - Arkansas Online

OPINION WHERE I'M WRITING FROM: Reading my words at the Waffle House Arkansas Democrat Gazette.

Posted: Sat, 23 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]

"Waffle House gets open, while everyone else has to wait for the infrastructure to allow them to reopen." "[Starbucks] didn't turn off their Wi-Fi, so people were pulling up to the Starbucks to get access to the internet," Fugate said. The National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster offer a list of nearly 60 organizations to choose from—depending on what kinds of missions you support. From veterans continuing their service with Team Rubicon, to trained comfort dogs of Hope Animal Assisted Crisis Response, and a variety of faith-based groups, there is an organization for everyone to love.

(great) Mother’s Day gifts

Fugate has stated publicly that the Waffle House Index has been used internally at FEMA to help the agency determine which areas need more disaster relief services. For people, the Waffle House Index is more than eggs and pancakes, it’s a slice of normalcy and a comforting sign of hope. "If you get there and the Waffle House is closed?" Fugate wrote in a blog post. "We wanted to get something to eat because the day would be packed and didn't know when we'd get to eat again," said Fugate, describing their search for breakfast one morning after the storm.

Here's how the 'Waffle House Index' measures a hurricane's potential impact

As Hurricane Idalia nears Florida, people are also tracking the 'Waffle House Index' - MarketWatch

As Hurricane Idalia nears Florida, people are also tracking the 'Waffle House Index'.

Posted: Tue, 29 Aug 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

He also investigated county animal shelters' euthanization rates and the struggles Florida felons face when re-entering society, stories that won a regional Hearst and Murrow award, respectively. In 2017, Ramsey was a USA Today College correspondent, where he reported on higher education news. "They were making coffee by pouring bottled water into the coffee maker, and they were serving breakfast with plastic plates and utensils because they couldn't wash anything," Fugate recalled.

Does FEMA Use Waffle House Closures to Determine How Bad a Disaster Is?

He used it as a way of knowing how serious damage may be in a region, based on how many Waffle House locations were still open and serving after a storm. With Waffle House's reputation for staying open during severe weather, even FEMA uses the 'Waffle House Index' to measure the severity of a storm. “We think about, What are the timelines in which people have to be provided medications? ” Greg Burel, the stockpile’s director, told me. “Our primary stock is laid down in undisclosed locations around the country that give us access to large swaths of the population and that are accessible” by more than one type of transportation. Waffle House uses one main distributor, Illinois-based US Foods, which has depots scattered across the Southeast, where most Waffle Houses are concentrated, and where many hurricanes that strike the U.S. make landfall. So supplies don’t need to travel far in advance of a storm and are close by once roads are clear.

Anytime a hurricane heads to a location Waffle House serves, the company’s crisis response team springs into action, working with employees before the storm and helping them get back to work, if they can, after the disaster. The historic high-end Category 3 hurricane drove a "catastrophic" storm surge and birthed flooding for hundreds of miles before powering into the southern Georgia border around 11 a.m. Fugate remembered responding to a deadly tornado that had torn through Joplin, Missouri, in 2011.

People have opened their homes and their hearts to their fellow Americans in ways that are nothing short of absolutely inspiring. And of course, this is merely a snapshot of just some of the outstanding work that’s being done to help hurricane survivors across the southern parts of the country. More work is still being done and the outpouring of support continues.

The last shots fired call was in 2021, and shots were fired in 2020 as well. Campus police announced earlier that anyone who stayed in the area would be subject to criminal trespass laws. 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.

Many of the supplies needed wouldn’t be able to get there without the help of private sector partners like FedEx which is working with several non-profits to help provide transportation support. For small towns, places like coffee shops and local restaurants are often the local hubs of activity. Just a cup of coffee, a bite to eat, or the chance to catch up with a neighbor can mean a lot to someone who may have lost everything.

It is an indicator of how complex and long supply chains are — for food, for fuel, for power — and of what it takes to plan around infrastructure that can be fragile in unexpected ways. Out in the Atlantic Ocean, Hurricane Matthew was hurling winds of 115 miles an hour toward the coast of Florida. Hundreds of miles inland, in the headquarters of Waffle House Inc., Stark’s software predicted that 477 of the chain’s almost 1,900 restaurants might be affected by the onrushing storm. Just ahead of Hurricane Idalia slamming into Florida's Big Bend Wednesday near Keaton Beach, five Waffle House restaurants were closed, Waffle House Vice President of Public Relations Njeri Boss told USA TODAY.