The Waffle House Index is an informal metric named after the ubiquitous Southern US restaurant chain Waffle House known for its 24-hour, 365-day service. This restaurant's drive to always remain open has given rise to an informal but useful metric to determine the severity of a storm and the likely scale of assistance required for disaster recovery. It was coined by former administrator Craig Fugate of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The metric is unofficially used by FEMA to inform disaster response.
Description
The index is based on Waffle House's reputation for having good disaster preparedness and staying open during extreme weather or reopening quickly afterwards.
If you get there and the Waffle House is closed? That's really bad...
Levels
The index has three levels, based on the extent of operations and service at the restaurant following a storm:
GREEN: full menu – Restaurant has power and damage is minimal or absent.
YELLOW: limited menu – Power is either...