Of course the other key is an organized jump team, which is made up of restaurant and district managers, as well as any other experienced employees that know how to run a restaurant from states outside of a storm’s path. A close relationship with distributor US Foods allows Waffle House to quickly stock up additional food into warehouses with trucks ready to deliver in the onset of a storm. So Hugo was the first big storm where we put things together to keep operations moving quickly.”Īs a storm develops, Waffle House leaders at the Atlanta headquarters open the “storm center” which follows storm movements, and acts as a communications hub directing jump teams and construction resources.Ī key part of the team’s success is stocking up supplies immediately following a hurricane season. Any hurricane in the Atlantic is going to have an impact on us," said Pat Warner, Waffle House’s director of public relations. “For some, us being open brought a sense of normalcy, offering them basic necessities in an area that’s destroyed.”īeing able to get restaurants up and running in the aftermath of a disaster is the sole function of the jump team, which was designed 30 years ago after Category 4 Hurricane Hugo made landfall in the southeastern United Stated and caused $10 billion worth of damages. “Most of the people that came in, they were eating their first hot meal in days,” Wentworth said. The Callaway restaurant was the only store not to reopen within four days because of its caved-in roof. Portable toilets were transported to restaurants without plumbing services.Ĭonstruction sources were contacted and mobilized to heavily damaged restaurants.Īnd about 40 food trucks rolled into the area to stock freezers.īurgers and hash browns were ready to serve in 10 of the 11 stores caught in Michael’s crosshairs. Stores without employees had jump team members fill in roles while local workers attended to personal matters. Water-less stores were given hundreds of bottles of water for drinking and boiling. Powerless stores were provided generators and gasoline, and propane for the grills. The jump team sprang into action - its mission: Get the lights on and the grills simmering in the affected restaurants. The rain bands of Hurricane Michael had just cleared the area, and a quietness hung over the town and Panama Beach like an uneasy haze. "How bad is the water main break in DeKalb County? is breaking out the infamous 'no water' menu," WSB Radio's Mark Arum tweeted.It was the kind of disaster Waffle House has spent 30 years preparing for. Residents are told to boil water before drinking it after a water-main break caused flooding and mayhem in the area.ĭespite the lack of readily available water, Waffle House locations in the area are still serving up hot food. On Wednesday morning, DeKalb County, which includes parts of Atlanta and some of its suburbs, issued a massive boil-water advisory, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Waffle House is pulling out one of its emergency menus, as DeKalb County in Georgia deals with a massive water-main break.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |