Why FEMA watches the Waffle House menu during hurricanes

NY Post ^ | 09/13/2014 | Tamar Lapin

[BenLurkin]

The agency coined the term “Waffle House Index” during the 2004 hurricane season to measure the effect of a natural disaster on an area.

If the eatery shutters or limits menu items during or after a hazard — they know the community took a major hit.

The index has three color-coded levels: Green means everything is fine, at least in the Waffle House; yellow is when the restaurant serves a limited menu, meaning the area lost power or they’re running low on supplies; and red is if it’s closed, showing the area has been hit hard.

“The Waffle House test just doesn’t tell us how quickly a business might rebound — it also tells how the larger community is faring,” FEMA said in a 2011 blog post.

[PGR88]

Private response will ALWAYS be better than Fed.gov bureaucrats.

Just appoint Waffle House supply-chain managers to FEMA management. problem solved.

[DannyTN]

[Notthereyet]

Good touch of humor!

[TADSLOS]

Ping.

[pepsi_junkie]

They can get data on waffle house sales but have no other way to see how the community is doing before/during/after a hurricane?

[Valpal1]

Once you appoint these high performing managers to government jobs where they can’t be fired for non performance, they will quickly cease to be high performing.

[SunkenCiv]

I syrup everyone down there comes through okay.

Walmart's guy predicted the exact course that Katrina took and got the chain ready, shipping lots of relief-type supplies, as well as ammo for the cops.

[Yo-Yo]

They had better not run out of my “smothered and covered” hash browns!

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

They can get data on waffle house sales but have no other way to see how the community is doing before/during/after a hurricane?

What, you prefer that they use a more complicated and less reliable statistic?

The fact that they call it the “Waffle House Index” implies that they have other statistics. But you have to admit, the “Waffle House Index” is meaningful and understandable.

[bgill]

There isn’t a Waffle House anywhere around here but a cat wind scale would work.

Did the Waffle House wait until the last minute to stock up like everyone else?

[DannyTN]

[DannyTN]

[Slings and Arrows]

FReepmail me or KoRn to get on or off the Waffle House Ping List.

[onedoug]

If Waffle House were open at the height of it, I’d go.

[GOPJ]

“The Waffle House test just doesn’t tell us how quickly a business might rebound — it also tells how the larger community is faring,” FEMA said in a 2011 blog post.

Ring of truth to this one...

[BenLurkin]

Yup

[mabarker1]

Here Kitty- Here Kitty-Kitty

[Squantos]

Texas Ratio ..... nuthin else matters !

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

The Salvation Army is already poised to go in after the flood recedes, praise the Lord. FEMA should just get out of the way and let them do their thing.