Yes, Waffle House is still open as Hurricane Sally crawls toward the Gulf Coast
As Hurricane Sally inches toward southern Mississippi, Waffle House is keeping watch.
All of the restaurant’s locations along the Gulf Coast were running as of Tuesday morning, hours before the storm was expected to make landfall, a Waffle House spokesperson told McClatchy News.
And an open Waffle House could be a positive sign.
The 24-hour breakfast chain lends its name to the so-called Waffle House Index, known as an unofficial measure used by the government for determining how an area is faring with a natural disaster.
“If a Waffle House can serve a full menu, they’ve likely got power (or are running on a generator),” FEMA said in a 2017 blog post. “A limited menu means an area may not have running water or electricity, but there’s gas for the stove to make bacon, eggs, and coffee: exactly what hungry, weary people need.”
The federal agency says Waffle House is usually ready for disasters, so it’s rare for a location to close, McClatchy News previously reported.
“The Waffle House Index is divided into three tiers: Green if a store is open and offering a full menu, yellow if it’s open with a limited menu and red if it’s closed,” McClatchy reported..
The index was created when Craig Fugate, former director of emergency management in Florida, led crews to storm-ravaged parts of his state in 2004, said Njeri Boss, Waffle House director of public relations.
As of Tuesday morning, Hurricane Sally was expected to bring powerful storm surge and up to 30 inches of rain to parts of the Gulf Coast, creating the potential for “historic flooding,” the National Hurricane Center said. In preparation, Hancock County Emergency Management issued a mandatory evacuation for low-lying regions and residents living in mobile homes or along waterways, the Sun Herald reported.
Remnants of the hurricane are forecast to move to the northeast later this week, making heavy rain and flooding possible for other states, including North Carolina and South Carolina.
Waffle House says it’s monitoring the system and will see if locations are safe to stay open.
“We don’t currently have any restaurants closed,” Boss said at about 10:15 a.m. Central time in a phone interview. “As you know, we try to be the last one ... to close and the first to open after a storm.”
But if an area is under a mandatory evacuation order, it’s a sign that a Waffle House is shutting its doors. When a storm brings damage, Boss said restaurants will try to run with generators if needed.
“There usually is a loss of electricity,” the spokesperson said. “And we want to make sure that we’re there for the community so they can get to a place where they can get some hot food.”
As the storm approached this week, some social media users speculated whether the restaurant would be operating.
“The Florida man in me decided I needed Waffle House after being told to not come into work but rather shelter in place,” one person wrote on Twitter. “You already know they were open.”
All of the chain’s restaurants that closed in the Southeast due to the coronavirus have reopened, though some have limited hours, Boss said.
