If you want to figure out how much damage a storm has caused then you need to check out the local Waffle House.
It may seem kinda crazy but the head of FEMA uses the restaurant to gauge how much emergency response is needed.
He calls it the "Waffle House Index" and it works like this: If the restaurant is open after a disaster, then things are under control. But, he says, "if you get there and the Waffle House is closed? That's really bad. That's where you go to work."
So what do coffee and grits have to do with a storm's impact? Pat Warner is part of the company's recovery effort and explains it to HLN's Evening Express.