The Waffle House Storm Center is Real and the Feds are Taking Notice

Waffle House has its own storm center.

No, it isn't the name for some sort of breakfast meal that contains a flurry of sausage, eggs and hash browns in a bowl. It's an actual, working storm center that is utilized during natural disasters.

Why Does Waffle House Have A Storm Center?

Waffle House's doesn't necessarily have the most advantageous restaurant footprint when it comes to avoiding areas where natural disasters tend to strike.

The company notes on its website it "has 1,600 restaurants stretching from the mid-Atlantic to Florida and across the Gulf Coast, leaving it particularly vulnerable to hurricanes."

Waffle House was hit particularly hard in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina completely wiped out seven restaurants while shutting down another 100 locations. The disaster forced the company to reassess its emergency preparedness.

The Waffle House hurricane playbook was born giving restaurants instructions on how to operate during and after emergency situations. What can you serve without electricity? Can you get by without ice?

All of these things are covered in the manual. Additionally, Waffle House also purchased a mobile command center to further strengthen its disaster preparedness efforts.

The Atlanta-based company says "sales volume can double or triple in the aftermath of a storm."

How Does The Waffle House Index Work?

Waffle House's disaster preparedness become so refined, the Associated Press says even FEMA began to factor on the chain's storm predictions into its own plans.

Part of that is monitoring what is known as the Waffle House Index, which lets those seeking a meal which locations will closed and which ones are operating in a limited capacity.

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Maps are color-coded. Green indicates a location is open 24/7 with a full menu. Yellow shows restaurants operating with limited service or menu. Red means that Waffle House location is closed.

In the hours leading up to Hurricane Milton making landfall this week, Waffle House was updating its maps. The brand's storm center looked at its weather data and predicted which locations should close immediately before a Milton's arrival.

The information was updated as Milton's pattern changed or as restaurants were able to once again operate in full capacity.

The index can be a reliable source of storm information not only for residents in the area, but also government officials.

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp was even seen at Waffle House's Storm Center this week to oversee the operation prior to Milton's arrival

"Today, I had the opportunity to visit the @WaffleHouse Storm Center as we continue to recover from Hurricane Helene and prepare for Hurricane Milton," Kemp shared on X (formerly Twitter). "Thank you to the Waffle House Operations Team for your great work to prepare and inform the public during times like this."