The Waffle House Index for Emergency Management

We're less than a month from the official start of the 2012 Atlantic Hurricane Season and the articles about emergency preparedness are rightly starting up in mass now from various news outlets.

I found this to be the most interesting one in years:

In Ft. Myers Florida:  "The government says it uses the Waffle House Index when responding to disasters like a hurricane or tornado. When emergency management is deployed, they'll sometimes call the Waffle House in town and find out if they're still open. If they have a full menu, the index is green. If they are serving a limited menu, the index is yellow. That means there is water but no power. If the Waffle House is closed, that's a code red because that will mean there's no power or water available."


Read the rest right here.