Waffle House Index Used After Hurricane Sandy

The devastation of Hurricane Sandy in the Northeast is tragic and the people directly involved have a long recovery but we wish them our best, especially those most affected. New Jersey and New York were hit quite hard and so was Eastern Pennsylvania. In the Keystone State, federal disaster management officials are using ‘the Waffle House Index’ to help with pinpointing the areas that where hit the hardest. They are looking at which Waffle House is open and which is closed to determine which areas were most damaged by Hurricane Sandy.

FEMA head Craig Fugate says 24 hour restaurants are a good way of gauging which areas do not have electricity, gas or water.  If the Waffle House is serving a full menu then the area it’s in is Green. If the menu is limited, the area is Yellow. When the Waffle House is closed, RED. With this coding, officials can tell which areas need the most help and which areas are up to par.

[ABC News]