How does the Waffle House help you gauge hurricane danger? See what can happen

When you’re trying to figure out a hurricane forecast, plenty of places have answers: the National Weather Service, the National Hurricane Center, the Weather Channel, the news site you are reading right this moment.

But your local Waffle House?

The chain is known for its 24/7 restaurants where you can fill up on waffles, eggs, greasy-cheesy hash browns and coffee. But it’s also known for a hurricane gauge.

When your Waffle House closes its doors, you know it’s about to get really bad outside.

You see, the place with the yellow sign sign never closes — except in a severe hurricane.

If you had any doubts about how strong Hurricane Idalia in 2023, this should clear things up:

Up to seven Waffle House Florida locations in the path of the storm were shut down for a day, according to the company.

There’s even a Waffle House index to determine how bad a storm is and whether restaurants in a hurricane zone close.

Here are the three color-coded scales in the Waffle House Index, which are used to measure the damage after a storm, not risk before it hits:

• Green means the restaurant is serving a full menu, a sign that damage in the area is limited and there’s still power.
• Yellow means there’s a limited menu, which means the restaurant is getting power from a generator and has low food supplies.
• Red means the restaurant is closed, which is a sure sign that the area is severely damaged or unsafe.

MORE: When Waffle House surrenders to a hurricane, you know it’s bad

In 2017, a Waffle House in Bradenton shut its doors before Hurricane Irma hit, worrying locals. And in Davie, a Waffle House had to close for repairs after Hurricane Irma blew out a window.

The “Waffle House Index” is an unofficial metric from the former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Craig Fugate.

Said Fugate back in 2011: “If you get there and the Waffle House is closed? That’s really bad.”