FEMA measures the severity a hurricane's effect on a community by using which informal metric?
A - Waffle House Index
B - Olive Garden Scale
C - Red Lobster Rule
D - Starbucks Principle
Answer: A - Waffle House Index The Waffle House Index is an informal measure of a storm’s severity and its effect on a stricken community. The index is based on the reputation of the restaurant chain Waffle House for staying open during extreme weather and for reopening quickly afterwards. The term was coined by FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate shortly after the Joplin tornado that struck Joplin, Missouri in 2011. The former FEMA director said that the agency monitors the closures of Waffle Houses following natural disasters to determine where to focus their response first.