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Waffle House, citing the Waffle House Index, closes Tampa locations ahead of Hurricane Milton
Waffle House on Tuesday announced that it had closed its Tampa-area locations ahead of the projected landfall of Hurricane Milton, citing the so-called Waffle House Index as a measure of the storm’s severity.
“Our #whindex status maps reflect our closures as of 2 p.m. today in advance of #HurricaneMilton. More updates to come. Please stay safe,” Waffle House wrote in a social media post on X on Tuesday afternoon.
As of early Wednesday, Hurricane Milton was barreling across the Gulf of Mexico as a “catastrophic Category 5” storm, on track to make landfall along Florida’s central west coast, including the Tampa area, late Wednesday or early Thursday the National Hurricane Center said.
In measuring the severity of a storm, Waffle House Index has come to be a reliable indicator of whether a hurricane or other natural disaster is likely to cause significant damage. The chain of 1,600 restaurants notes that because its locations are primarily spread across Southern states and Gulf Coast, they are particularly vulnerable to hurricanes, yet it makes an effort to keep them open during all kinds of weather events.
If a Waffle House stays open in town, even in a limited capacity, neighbors are reassured that the coming storm is unlikely to cause devastation. A closed location of the dependable diner chain has come to indicate impending disaster.
Waffle House’s Tuesday post showed a map of the Waffle House Index with more than two dozen Florida restaurants shuttered due to the storm, with the locations spread between Tampa, St. Petersburg, Ft. Myers and Bradenton.
What is the Waffle House Index?
The Waffle House Index was conceived by Craig Fugate, former Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in 2004. Fugate had been searching for something to eat while surveying the devastation left by Hurricane Charley and was only able to find a Waffle House serving a limited menu.
This resilience made the status of Waffle House locations a useful indicator of the severity of a storm and the immediate needs of the affected area.
His team began to notice other open Waffle Houses in communities without power or running water. The restaurants eventually became a key feature on a color-coded map that his team provided to help the public and local officials identify where storm damage was most severe.
Green means the location is serving a full menu, indicating minimal damage in the surrounding area — the lights are on and the syrup is flowing.
Yellow means the restaurant is serving a limited menu, a signal that it’s pulling power from a generator and might have a low food supply. The area might not have running water or electricity, but there’s enough gas to fry up bacon for hungry customers.
Red means the location is closed, a sign of unsafe operating conditions and severe destruction to the restaurant or nearby communities.
What does the index say about Hurricane Milton?
Waffle House’s closures of Tampa-area locations indicates the damage from Hurricane Milton is likely be severe.
Milton was upgraded back to a Category 5 storm Tuesday as it churned toward Florida’s west coast. The ferocious storm could land a once-in-a-century direct hit on Tampa and St. Petersburg, engulfing the populous region with towering storm surges and turning debris from Helene’s devastation into projectiles.
contributed to this report.
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As Trump puts Aurora, Colorado, in spotlight, mayor calls Venezuelan gang claims “grossly exaggerated”
The Republican mayor of Aurora, Colorado, said former President Donald Trump’s rally in the city Friday presented an opportunity “to show him and the nation” that Aurora is “not a city overrun by Venezuelan gangs.”
Mayor Mike Coffman made the statement Tuesday after weeks of misleading claims by the former president that the city was a “war zone” overrun with members of a Venezuelan gang.
During last month’s presidential debate against Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump pointed to Aurora as evidence that immigrants are “violently” taking over the town. “You look at Aurora in Colorado. They are taking over the towns. They’re taking over buildings,” Trump said.
Coffman said concerns about gang activity have been “grossly exaggerated.” He said the “incidents were limited to several apartment complexes in this city of more than 400,000 residents.”
Aurora Police Department Chief Todd Chamberlain said in a Sept. 20 press conference that the city is “not by any means overtaken by Venezuelan gangs.”
Central to the gang takeover claims is a viral video showing armed men entering an apartment in Aurora on Aug. 18. The incident led to the fatal shooting of a 25-year-old man, police said.
A local councilwoman shared the video on Facebook, claiming a gang took over “entire apartment complexes” in the city. Coffman shared a screenshot from the video and said the city is working to “request an emergency court order to clear the apartment buildings where Venezuelan gang activity has been occurring.”
However, after patrolling the complex, the police department said gang members had not taken over the building and residents were not paying rent to gangs. Coffman also visited the building and said tenants told him they did not have safety concerns but were alarmed by garbage “piling up” and a “rodent infestation.”
Coffman said tenants told him they had not been paying rent because “there was no longer an onsite property manager who had always collected the rent.” Coffman said initial reports of a gang takeover came from the property management company, CBZ Management. CBS News reached out to CBZ Management and has not heard back.
The mayor and councilwoman released a statement on Sept. 11 to “clear the record” and say gang members have not “taken over” the city.
Police said as of Sept. 20, they do not have any information that leads them to believe the men in the video are in a gang.
Chamberlain said Aurora, like any other city, does have crime and gang activity. The police department said it set up a special task force with local, state, and federal officials to address gang activity.
The police department said it has linked 10 people to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and eight of those people have been arrested as of Sept. 11. But Chamberlain said there is “a lot of complexity” when identifying suspects as gang members, adding that it has been “a struggle.”
“The one thing I really want to make certain on in this whole discussion is that this is a focus on criminal behavior, this is not a focus on immigration status,” Chamberlain said.
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Hurricane Milton search and rescue efforts ongoing in Florida
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