FEMA uses the Waffle House to determine the intensity of a hurricane

With the passage of Hurricane Florence on the east coast, the Waffle House is one of many companies and agencies that have the wind in their sails.

The chain of breakfasts is open 24 hours a day throughout the year and we know that it is open during natural disasters. Since the restaurant is equipped with an active storm monitor, federal officials use the Waffle House to measure the severity of hurricanes, tornadoes and other local storms after hitting.

If a waffle house closes – or even limits its menu – due to weather conditions, federal regulators know that this particular area has been hit hard. Due to society's monitoring of natural disasters, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has designated the term "waffle index" as a means of determining the effects of a storm on an area.

"The Waffle House test just does not tell us how fast a business could bounce back – it also shows how the big community is doing," FEMA said in a post published in 2011. "Faster Restaurants, Grocery Stores and convenience stores, or banks will be able to reopen, plus local economies will start generating revenue again – which will mean a strong recovery for a community.

The game plan of the waffle

To stay open in unsafe conditions, Waffle House plans carefully – and in advance – every storm. The restaurant has many emergency plans, and even "jumping" teams that involve working teams working as a team for stranded employees.

Each restaurant also has a "waffle storm game booklet" with a game of what to do if electricity or running water come out of the storm. FEMA has since developed a color-coded system depending on the status of Waffle House.

"They are open most of the time," said former FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, during a 2016 interview with NPR. "And it was the clue. If a waffle house is closed due to a disaster, it's bad. We call it red. If they are open but have a limited menu, it's yellow. If they are green, we are good, keep going. You have not found the wrong things yet.

Waffle House spokesman Pat Warner said Fugate had the idea during the 2004 hurricane season.

"If we are open quickly after a storm, it means that the community comes back and that people are out, we return to that sense of normalcy," Warner said. "After a storm, they really rely on us to help them because they are used to being there the rest of the year."