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(Joe Raedle / Getty Images)
- The Waffle House Index helps FEMA monitor the impacts of hurricanes and tropical storms.
- The index turns red when Waffle House closes, which, according to FEMA, is rare.
- It was not clear which places on the way to Florence were to close.
Although it may sound silly, one of the tools that the Federal Emergency Management Agency uses informally to decide the severity of the storm and whether it requires evacuations, Is the status of Waffle House.
With 1,500 sites, mostly in the south and along the Gulf Coast, open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, Waffle House closes.
Given the situation south of most restaurants in Waffle House, they are vulnerable to hurricanes, tropical storms and floods. For this reason, this can be a good indicator of the path of destruction from a storm when Waffle House is closed to business.
(PLUS: Hurricane Florence forecast)
This so-called "Waffle House Index" was created by former FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate. Here is how it works.
If Waffle House is open and serves its full menu, the index is green.
If the restaurant is open but offers only a limited menu, the index is yellow.
The index turns red when Waffle House is closed. FEMA noted that it is rare for the index to become red because "Waffle House is well prepared for disasters. "
Waffle House tweeted Tuesday that its storm center was activated and followed Florencebut it was not known exactly which places in the hurricane had to close.
The company, according to an article published in 2011 in the Wall Street Journal, has a "hurricane reading manual" that helps sites to re-open after a disaster by limiting menus of locations if necessary. The game book shows "what to serve when there is gas but no electricity, or a generator but no ice".
FEMA cautioned against taking the Waffle House Index too seriously, however.
"Look, I think it was used at one point," said Alex Amparo of FEMA at a press briefing obtained by ABC News.. "There is no official use for this, we focus on more empirical data."
Florence The coast of Carolina was expected to reach the coast on Friday with destructive winds, deadly storm surges and catastrophic floods.
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