You might be wondering why were so many of your Black friends and relatives in Florida unfazed by the potential deadly wave of Hurricane Milton. Could it be they were waiting for Waffle House to make a statement?
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For decades, Waffle House has remained the to-go place, especially for southern Black folks to congregate after football games, night clubs, and where politicians of all races sit down for grits, hash browns, eggs and shop talk.
If you’ve never been to one, know that Waffle House is open 24 hours, 365 days a year, 99 percent of the time. But it’s the one percent of the time the chain closes its doors that gets people all worked up.
Let us explain. Waffle House is more than just your typical, low-cost diner, though. Believe it or not, the southern staple created its own storm center and weather index which allows the company to manage and track all weather disasters. According to the Waffle House Storm Index, Hurricane Milton’s path is a code red. As of Oct. 10, several Waffle House locations across the coast of Florida— mostly in Tampa— reportedly closed.
The Waffle House Storm Index was born in 2004 after former FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate said, “If you get there and the Waffle House is closed? That’s really bad. That’s where you go to work,” according to Quartz. The index operates on a color coded system. Green means the restaurant is running as normal. Yellow means because of the weather, the store will have a constrained menu and might not have power. Red means the location is completely closed for business.
Long before it became an official weather barometer, the restaurant has been deeply embedded into southern American culture for sometime. There are more than 1,600 restaurants across the country, with 433 of them located just in Georgia alone, according to the World Population Review. The restaurant chain prides itself on serving the public, even in times of crisis.
Back in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Waffle House opened its doors to hurricane victims who couldn’t go anywhere else for a heated meal, according to Quartz. After seeing the need for a dining experience like Waffle House, the company fully embraced it’s responsibility to serve local southern communities, and in order to properly do so, they came up with a fool proof game plan.
“Senior executives developed a manual for opening after a disaster, bulked up on portable generators, bought a mobile command center and gave employees key fobs with emergency contacts,” according to the restaurant’s website. But that’s not all. Waffle House also created its own storm center and weather index which allows the company to manage and track all weather disasters.
The index has continued to be recognized as a key source of weather monitoring. In the wake of the recently devastating Hurricane Helene, Ga. Gov. Brian Kemp even visited Waffle House’s storm center himself. On X, he wrote “Thank you to the Waffle House Operations Team for your great work to prepare and inform the public during times like this.”
So, the next time you visit Waffle House, remember you’re dining at a key scientific hub. If Waffle House goes down, you know you’re in trouble!
