Waffle House Closes for Hurricane Ian as Florida Faces Worst-Case Scenario

A Waffle House in Punta Gorda, Florida has closed as a preventative measure as the community braces for the impacts of Hurricane Ian.

The most recent Hurricane Ian update from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) shows the Category 3 storm continues to strengthen before its expected landfall on Florida's west coast on Wednesday.

Pictures of the closed Waffle House that is located at 1228 Tamiami Trail has begun circulating on social media ahead of the storm.

On Tuesday, NBC 2's meteorologist Justin Hobbs tweeted a photo of the restaurant with its shutters down.

"Y'all Waffle House is closed, this is not a drill."

The North Georgia SRA Twitter page also tweeted the same picture and wrote "so it's looking like Hurricane Ian is gonna be bad. Stay tuned for mutual aid links to be posted to this thread," as the caption.

This is significant due to the unofficial Waffle House index that is often used in Florida to understand the severity of the incoming hurricane.

A 2020 AccuWeather report explains the meaning of the index and its inception. "[It] is an informal measure of a storm's severity and its effect on a stricken community," the report says.

"It comes from Waffle House's reputation for being well-prepared for disasters and either remaining open during disastrous weather or reopening shortly afterward.

"Craig Fugate, who was then the FEMA Administrator, coined the term shortly after the Joplin tornado of May 2011. The massive tornado devastated the town and caused $2.8 billion worth of damage. It also killed 158 people and injured roughly 1,150 others. Both of the Waffle Houses in Joplin, however, remained open."

The index is normally broken down into three color-coded levels that are based on the amount of service that the restaurant can provided before or after a bad storm.

Green means a full menu, the restaurant expects to/has sustained little or no damage and has full power.

Yellow means a limited menu, the restaurant may/is running out of food or has limited power. But red means the Waffle House is closed due to/to prevent severe flooding or damage.

Newsweek has contacted Waffle House for comment.

The latest National Hurricane Center (NHC) announcements on Twitter has expressed how impactful Hurricane Ian can be.

"The last Day 1 outlook from NWSPC (National Weather Service Prediction Center) highlights high risk of excessive rainfall across a large portion of the central Florida peninsula from Ian," the page tweeted.

"Widespread, life-threatening catastrophic flooding is expected across this portion of Florida."

Not long later the page tweeted: "Time is quickly running out for residents to rush preparations to completion on the southwestern Florida peninsula as Hurricane Ian nears.

"Tropical-Storm-Force winds already beginning to affect the coast. Conditions will rapidly deteriorate and catastrophic wind damage is expected."