In praising “battle-hardened” businesses bouncing back from storms, Gov. Ron DeSantis declared Tuesday that his kids are “big fans” of Waffle House.
“I used to do the waffles at home,” DeSantis said during a news conference in Steinhatchee following Hurricane Debby. “I’d get the Waffle House, they’ve got really good batter you can get, and we’d do it, and my kids loved it. I was like the hero for doing it. Well, finally I was like, ‘Why don’t I take you to a Waffle House?’”
His three kids order a waffle with chocolate chips and whipped cream, according to DeSantis, who said they started going to the breakfast restaurant in person within the past six months. Madison and Mason will eat the “entire thing,” while youngest Mamie only eats the chocolate chips, he said.
“I said. ‘Mamie, it’s Waffle House, the waffle is good. you need to do it,’ but she will just sit there and eat the chocolate chips,” the governor said.
Waffle House Index
DeSantis applauded the speed at which businesses are recovering from storms, saying he appreciates when businesses “get back open very, very quickly.”
“Waffle House is going to be open because they get open immediately every time,” DeSantis said, also commending Publix. “They’re battle-hardened, they understand how these things operate.”
Kevin Guthrie, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, credited meteorologist Ben Nelson for creating the Waffle House index while working for the division.
The index reflects how neighborhoods are being affected by a storm, measured in three levels: Green indicates a full menu, yellow is a limited menu due to reliance on power from a generator, and red a closed restaurant. The restaurants famously remain open even under dire conditions.
“If you get there and the Waffle House is closed? That’s really bad,” former FEMA administrator Craig Fugate (also former head of Florida’s emergency response) has said.
The breakfast restaurant chain has more than 1,500 restaurants spread across areas largely affected by hurricanes and tropical storms. The chain is open 24 hours every day of the year unless a storm stands in the way of waffles.
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