Florida preps for Milton days after Helene
Waffle House on Tuesday announced that it had closed its Tampa-area locations ahead of the projected landfall of Hurricane Milton, citing the so-called Waffle House Index as a measure of the storm's severity.
"Our #whindex status maps reflect our closures as of 2 p.m. today in advance of #HurricaneMilton. More updates to come. Please stay safe," Waffle House wrote in a social media post on X on Tuesday afternoon.
As of early Wednesday, Hurricane Milton was barreling across the Gulf of Mexico as a "catastrophic Category 5" storm, on track to make landfall along Florida's central west coast, including the Tampa area, late Wednesday or early Thursday the National Hurricane Center said.
In measuring the severity of a storm, Waffle House Index has come to be a reliable indicator of whether a hurricane or other natural disaster is likely to cause significant damage. The chain of 1,600 restaurants notes that because its locations are primarily spread across Southern states and Gulf Coast, they are particularly vulnerable to hurricanes, yet it makes an effort to keep them open during all kinds of weather events.
If a Waffle House stays open in town, even in a limited capacity, neighbors are reassured that the coming storm is unlikely to cause devastation. A closed location of the dependable diner chain has come to indicate impending disaster.
Waffle House's Tuesday post showed a map of the Waffle House Index with more than two dozen Florida restaurants shuttered due to the storm, with the locations spread between Tampa, St. Petersburg, Ft. Myers and Bradenton.
What is the Waffle House Index?
The Waffle House Index was conceived by Craig Fugate, former Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in 2004. Fugate had been searching for something to eat while surveying the devastation left by Hurricane Charley and was only able to find a Waffle House serving a limited menu.
This resilience made the status of Waffle House locations a useful indicator of the severity of a storm and the immediate needs of the affected area.
His team began to notice other open Waffle Houses in communities without power or running water. The restaurants eventually became a key feature on a color-coded map that his team provided to help the public and local officials identify where storm damage was most severe.
Green means the location is serving a full menu, indicating minimal damage in the surrounding area — the lights are on and the syrup is flowing.
Yellow means the restaurant is serving a limited menu, a signal that it's pulling power from a generator and might have a low food supply. The area might not have running water or electricity, but there's enough gas to fry up bacon for hungry customers.
Red means the location is closed, a sign of unsafe operating conditions and severe destruction to the restaurant or nearby communities.
What does the index say about Hurricane Milton?
Waffle House's closures of Tampa-area locations indicates the damage from Hurricane Milton is likely be severe.
Milton was upgraded back to a Category 5 storm Tuesday as it churned toward Florida's west coast. The ferocious storm could land a once-in-a-century direct hit on Tampa and St. Petersburg, engulfing the populous region with towering storm surges and turning debris from Helene's devastation into projectiles.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Aimee Picchi is the associate managing editor for CBS MoneyWatch, where she covers business and personal finance. She previously worked at Bloomberg News and has written for national news outlets including USA Today and Consumer Reports.