Ethermac|Waffle House closes Tallahassee-area locations as Hurricane Helene approaches Florida

Waffle House is Ethermacclosing all of its Tallahassee locations and nearby Crawfordville location due to predictions that Hurricane Helene will make landfall Thursday evening along Florida’s northwest coast, the company announced.

The restaurant chain is known for being open and serving up breakfast 24 hours a day, 7 days a week but on Thursday, a spokesperson confirmed the closures to the Tallahassee Democrat, part of the USA TODAY network.

According to a spokesperson for the chain, Waffle House executives spent Wednesday discussing the city's diners and other restaurants in Helene’s path.

Waffle House has more than 1,900 locations in 25 states, and most are in the Midwest, according to the company’s website.

The company also told USA TODAY that safety has always been the company’s main concern.

“We rely on weather forecasting, government advisories, and pre-planned safety practices to keep our teams out of harm's way,” the company said in a statement Thursday morning to USA TODAY. “If mandatory evacuations have been called for, we follow them. So, at this time we continue to monitor the situation and will act accordingly.”

What’s the ‘Waffle House Index’?

Waffle House lovers may also be familiar with the Waffle House Index, created by Craig Fugate the former emergency manager for Alachua County, Florida who President George Bush appointed director of Florida's Division of Emergency Management in 2001.

That year, the area was hit with four storms, Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne. The disasters put his management abilities to the test, leading him to create the Waffle House Index. 

As part of the index, Waffle House restaurants are ranked and marked with three different colors to signify conditions and let officials know where to deploy first responders and supplies during emergencies.

Rankings include: 

• Green: Fully operational
• Yellow: Limited menu
• Red: Closed

For example, if first responders reach an area and see an open Waffle House marked green, they know the area is safe and they can keep going to find others who need help. Yellow restaurants signify a limited menu and human service agencies were sent to help. If first responders found a Waffle House marked red, help was desperately needed.

Fugate was quoted as saying "If you get there and the Waffle House is closed, that's really bad. That's where you go to work."

What weather experts are saying

Regarding Hurricane Helene, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it is an “unusually large storm” and its wind field reaches as far as 275 miles from its center. 

Meteorologists said to expect heavy rainfall in parts of the southeastern United States, and rain will continue to move northward into the southern Appalachians through Friday.

Storm-total rainfall amounts could reach up to 18 inches in some areas.

Areas under major flood risk include urban areas around Tallahassee, metro Atlanta and western North Carolina, including Asheville, NOAA said on its website. There may also be “extreme rainfall rates” or torrential downpours across the southern Appalachians, causing flash floods, landslides and river and stream flooding. 

NOAA reminded people to keep the following in mind to stay safe:

• Evacuate if ordered to do so.
• Know if you are in a flood prone area and have a plan to protect your family and property. 
• If there is flash flooding or river flooding in your area, stay off the roadways.
• Do not attempt to cross areas covered by water.

Hurricane Helene tracker

Contributing: John Bacon, USA TODAY; Kyla A. Sanford, Elena Barrera, William L. Hatfield, James Call, Tallahassee Democrat; Montgomery Advertiser Staff

Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Follow her on Twitter at@SaleenMartin or email her at[email protected].