What Does FEMA Have to do With Waffles?

4/5/2020 (Permalink)

Many years ago, in 2004, a hurricane swept across the east coast. FEMA went to work, doing what they could to analyze the damage and help the communities that had been struck by the disaster. At the same time, an informal metric would rise out of this slew of hurricanes that would puzzle civilians for years to come. This metric was, The Waffle House Index. What exactly is The Waffle House Index? Well, a researcher working for FEMA at the time noticed that one could theoretically quantify how severe a natural disaster was to the surrounding areas by analyzing the current operating status of Waffle Houses in the affected area. If the store was open, green light, if the store was running on a limited menu, yellow light, and if the store was completely shut down, red light. It turned out that while the premise might have seemed odd, FEMA could get a pretty decent idea of the severity of the situation in a certain region. It began as sort of a joke until the term was coined by FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate in May 2011 (https://n.pr/2JznNEc).
Now, with the current epidemic, The Waffle House Index is being put to the test again but now on a nationwide scale. If we can take anything from this story its that being able to support the community should be held above all house. Good risk management is one thing, but understanding how to prepare for any size disaster, and being able to hold the foundation of our communities because of our preparedness is a trait that we hold pride on as well.
SERVPRO Disaster Recovery Team-Team Wall, chooses to be that foundation for our community every day we put our boots on the ground.
We are here to help. We are here to commit. We are here to serve.
SERVPRO, One Team.