What Does Waffle House have to do with Hurricanes?
How Brands and Influencers Play a Role in Emergency Preparation
Over the weekend, we watched Hurricane Milton make landfall in Florida, just weeks after Hurricane Helene battered the same region.
In advance of the storm, government agencies and local officials activated emergency evacuations, using every tool at their disposal to convince citizens in the storm’s path to leave or find safety at a local shelter.
Brands and influencers can also play a role in communicating the severity of pending disasters, sometimes swaying their audiences more effectively than official channels.
The Waffle House Index
Enter the Waffle House Index, developed by a FEMA administrator in 2004 as he was looking for a place to eat in the wake of a hurricane response in Florida.
If you’re a Nebraskan, you may be unfamiliar with this measure (much to our detriment, we have no Waffle House locations here) but for many Southerners, it’s become a reliable indicator of a storm’s severity. Waffle House has a reputation for being open 24/7, 365 days a year, even opening in conditions that businesses surrounding them won’t. So, when your Waffle House isn’t operating as usual, it’s a sign to locals that conditions are severe.
Here’s how it works, as described by this AP article:
“Waffle House’s social media shares color-coded maps of its restaurant locations in certain regions that will soon be hit or are recovering from storm damage. The Federal Emergency Management Agency also offers some live tracking.
Green means the location is serving a full menu, indicating minimal damage in the surrounding area. The lights are on and the syrup is flowing.
Yellow means the restaurant is serving a limited menu, a signal that it’s pulling power from a generator and might have a low food supply. The area might not have running water or electricity, but there’s enough gas to fry up bacon for hungry customers.
Red means the location is closed, a sign of unsafe operating conditions and severe destruction to the restaurant or nearby communities.”
What started as a bit of a joke grew to become a measure that many locals really looked to for guidance, and the brand took on this unofficial responsibility by posting their open/close decisions on their channels. For Milton, Waffle Houses across the storm’s impact zone proactively closed – a sign to locals that they should consider their own preparation efforts.
Jim Cantore Arrives in Tampa
Another example of an influencer impacting citizens’ storm response for Milton is Jim Cantore, a meteorologist for the Weather Channel.
Ahead of Milton, Cantore landed in Tampa, and the response on social media was immediate.
Floridians know that when Cantore arrives, it’s a signal that the weather outlook is grim. The meteorologist is famous for reporting from the heart of natural disasters. His mere presence – without any formal reporting – is enough to convince some that it is truly time to heed the calls to evacuate. Here are two TikToks that capture the feeling of when Cantore arrives:
It’s been a long, hard stretch for the Southern U.S. For those who want to support families and communities as they recover, the American Red Cross is a trusted source accepting donations.
Before we go…
Did you know Omaha has our own informal weather severity measure? KETV Meteorologist Bill Randby has been a trusted, calming force during severe weather threats for years.
Local lore states that you can tell just how worried you should be about a storm based on how high Randby rolls up his sleeves during his storm-tracking broadcasts. Check the chart, and thank you, Bill, for keeping us safe!
Thanks, Erin, for the topic this week!