...... the Feds look to Waffle House management for hints as to what to do.
Well not exactly. There might be some misunderstanding about how the Waffle House Index is used. The Feds do not "look to Waffle House management", at least not directly.
Waffle House is a large chain, open 24/7, and is very widespread in the part of the country threatened by hurricanes. Senior management at Waffle House has made a policy that their locations will stay open if at all possible. To that end they move portable generators to their locations when big storms are forecast, and have developed a simplified menu that is easy to prepare under less than ideal conditions (limited power and water, etc).
In a wide spread disaster, one of the most critical things any emergency manager needs is accurate information. What areas are hit, and how bad? What areas are not is as bad a shape? But good information is also very hard to get in the early stages of a disaster. Without good information, there is no way to correctly prioritize the response, and to send help first to the areas that most need it.
The Waffle House Index is a quick and dirty way to get a sense of which areas are hardest hit, and which are not so bad off. By spot checking Waffle House location over the storm affected area, emergency management can quickly get a rough sense of the overall situation. If Waffle House is operating normally, the area is probably in pretty good shape. If a Waffle House is serving only their storm menu, it means the area has likely had some damage, with power out. If a Waffle House is closed, it means the area has been very badly hit with major destruction and/or flooding. Thus by doing a quick check of a few businesses, emergency managers can get a first pass on the scale and severity of the disaster. They will of course continue to get more detailed info as they check with fire departments, police, and power companies, and do on the ground and air surveys.
Note that FEMA is meant to be a back up for local and state emergency management. FEMA, by law, is designed to step in and assist only when local and state resources determine they are not adequate to deal with a disaster. The request for FEMA is supposed to originate at the state level. That inherently introduces a time lag before FEMA resources can come into play. One of the (many) reasons the response to Katrina was so bad, was that this time lag was excessive due to bungling at both the state and federal level. One of Fugate's great contributions since taking over FEMA, has been to get FEMA into a more proactive mode. The Waffle House Index is one small part of that. Unlike the past, FEMA can now begin initial planning and preparations to respond even before being directly requested by local and state governments. Even a small speed up on the front end pays big dividends in the overall effectiveness of the response.
