September 16, 2011 In 2002, then U.S. Department of Homeland Security Chief Tom Ridge unveiled the color-coded terrorism alert index for the purpose of informing the American public of the terrorism "temperature de jour" after 9/11. In April 2011, the color-coded terrorism index was officially retired - or so we thought.
NOAA has officially confirmed that 2011 has been the worst year for natural disasters in U.S. history. FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate told the The Wall Street Journal he employees the "Waffle House index" technique to gauge the severity of damage to a community. If the local Waffle House restaurant is closed, he knows it is a true emergency. The Wall Street Journal describes the "Waffle House Index" as part economic indicator, part hurricane gauge.
The privately-owned Waffle House chain of 1600 restaurants is based in Atlanta. The company's disaster preparedness is so good, according to Fugate, he developed a three tiered color-coded system for his Waffle House Index.
"Green means the restaurant is serving a full menu, a signal that damage in an area is limited and the lights are on. Yellow means a limited menu, indicating power from a generator, at best, and low food supplies. Red means the restaurant is closed, a sign of severe damage in the area or unsafe conditions" Fugate said.
On May 13, 2009, W. Craig Fugate was appointed by President Barack Obama and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Fugate vowed to restore the agency reputation by working closely with state and local officials, nonprofit and religious groups, private companies and everyday citizens to respond to disasters. Fugate said he developed the "Waffle House index" technique as the head of Florida’s Department of Emergency Management to prepare and recover from multiple hurricanes during the mid-2000's.
On Saturday, Augist 27, 2011 when Hurricane Irene pounded the eastern seaboard, 22 Waffle House restaurants were downed. However, all but one in the hardest hit coastal Virginia region were reportedly back up and running by Wednesday night in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware.
After Katrina in 2005, The Waffle House decided to beef up its crisis-management processes. Senior executives developed a manual for opening after a disaster, bulked up on portable generators, bought a mobile command center and gave employees key fobs with emergency contacts.
In August, a GAO investigation into a two year pilot in which FEMA recruited 5 states from September 2008 through September 2010, found the scandal plagued agency wasted $1.75 million in grant funds.
If Waffle House restaurants are providing much needed refuge and a warm meal to those who need it most and in return it gets the restaurant chain free advertisement - so what?
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