'Waffle House Index' is a real thing during disasters

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/09/01/hurricane-dorian-waffle-house-index-disasters/2187708001/

by tosh • 7 years ago

58 54 7 years ago

eu.usatoday.com

SlavikCA• 7 years ago

The example of strength of centralized organization

Seems to me the organization is decentralized, but the CCC is centralized. Sounds military-esque, until you realize that in book "Team of Teams" General McChrystal makes a case of decentralized bottom up faster acting organizations.

falcongod0824• 7 years ago

an organization is centralized by definition, it's just a matter of scope, the arbitrary place where you draw the line depends on your politics.

CoolGuySteve3• 7 years ago

Whenever I read about this I always wonder if this is one of those modern dystopia things where a business is endangering its employees in order to stay open in a disaster zone.

Like what kind of waivers are people in these Jump Teams signing?

chrisseaton3• 7 years ago

Presumably they're volunteers and get compensated for it? Some people enjoy that kind of challenge and thrive from helping people and communities.

tpmx2• 7 years ago

Ericsson has a similar response program in place for disasters around the world. They call it "Ericsson Response".

The goal is to setup GSM-based emergency networks from scratch very quickly in severe disaster areas where infrastructure is disrupted by natural or other kinds of disasters.

For example: Nepal after the devastating earthquake in 2015.

They're flying in containers of GSM network equipment, diesel generators, fuel, along with technical people to get things going. Then they'll hand out SIMs/phones to emergency workers ASAP in order to empower logistics in a disaster zone.

It's manned by (obviously still paid) volunteers out of their normal working force.

This is based from Sweden mostly, I think. I'd expect the usual foreign travel insurance thing, perhaps with an additional hostage negotiation insurance for particular regions.

...

Presumably neither of these would be needed for Waffle House employees from the US who travel to another US state?

For well-run companies these kinds of things are a win-win thing. The company gets more loyalty, the employees get more motivation and the "end-users" get help. Perhaps the Waffle House is just a well-run company?

chiefalchemist6• 7 years ago

Perhaps the Waffle House is just a well-run company?

Forgive me for sounding cynical but I'm going to play Devil' Advocate and ask: Are they well run, or opportunistic?

In an area hit by disaster any mom & pops are likely going to be slower to reopen. They have to wait for the insurance company. They have to worry about the homes and family. Etc.

WH on the other hand can finance themselves while they wait for the insurance cheque. The out of town employees don't have local home and local family worries. Etc.

WH might be well run. But they might also simply be in the best position to rise to the top in disaster areas.

trentmb2• 7 years ago

They're flying

Grunts are, the executive staff, directors, and share holders ain't doin' shit.

jandrewrogers• 7 years ago

That is an exceedingly cynical way of looking at it. People usually volunteer to do this kind of thing and have no small amount of personal pride that they are able to help their neighbors in a disaster. It is a very positive experience for the people that do it, and they are often some of the first people on the ground. This is a manifestation of the self-reliance bias of American culture, they want to fix things themselves when disasters happen.

Disaster response in the US is completely driven by these kinds of community-oriented actions by private individuals and companies, and it has a long history of being highly effective.

ethbro2• 7 years ago

I've been in the hurricane center at a large retailer (last week, in fact). Aside from freezing prices at before-storm levels, no one who volunteers for the 24/7 emergency staffing is thinking about the dollars. Sales take care of themselves.

They're doing it because it feels good to help people.

And because rerouting truckloads of supplies effectively at 2 AM means someone in the affected area will be able get to their nearest store and get the things they need.

I'm not sure why the comments here are so !%^&ing jaded, but sometimes you do the right thing... simply because it's right.

CoolGuySteve3• 7 years ago

How many volunteers are doing it because they need the hours?

Does WH pay employees who can't show so they can still cover their bills?

Is it ethical to pay someone $7/hour (the average wage of a WH employee) and then ask them if they would volunteer to travel to work in a hurricane?

AmericanChopper• 7 years ago

For every good thing a company does, there’ll always be a HN commenter ready to explain why it’s exploitation.

Angostura• 7 years ago

I don’t think it’s extremely cynical. Depending on the culture of the company it would be quite possibly that there was pressure - subtle, or less so - put on employees.

ryanmcbride• 7 years ago

If it's _actually_ run by employees who volunteer that'd be cool, but my personal experience of service industry work is that you are are volunteered to do something or you are volunteered to be unemployed.

Impossible to know unless some WH employees actually weigh in.

trentmb2• 7 years ago

If any profit goes to the employees, I'm on board.

celticninja• 7 years ago

I think in general most people would do it to help others, because if things were different you might need the help.

...look for the helpers

bookofjoe• 7 years ago

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20886914

hooloovoo_zoo• 7 years ago

I really admire Waffle House's dedication. They can't get everyone's power back on or grocery shelves restocked, but providing a normal meal for people after a disaster situation is really valuable.

kiba2• 7 years ago

Speaking of disasters, I wonder how many people actually follow the government's recommendation for things like basic disaster kits.

wcunning2• 7 years ago

Round numbers? Something approximating zero...

In all seriousness, I actually sat down and read the FEMA recommendations on things to keep on hand. It's surprisingly thorough and surprisingly difficult to keep all of it in stock, rotated so that it doesn't spoil and checked on on a regular basis. Growing up, my mom was an avid coupon shopper, not necessarily because we needed it, just because she could. That meant that we had a pantry that sorta, kinda resembled an edible version of a prepper -- no MREs, but enough commercial and home canned food to last several months without any rationing even without power. Dad also kept a 200 gallon gas tank due to bad memories of the fuel rationing and prices in the '70's. We were as prepared as you could reasonably expect, but we were still not as prepared as FEMA recommended in many ways. These days, in relatively expensive town, in a relatively small house, I cannot possibly keep everything on hand that FEMA recommends, even on the light kit for a few weeks, but I at least make a passing attempt.

kiba2• 7 years ago

If google's right, canned food doesn't go bad if properly stored though taste will change, and in any case the recommended minimum is three days of food and water.

paulddraper• 7 years ago

200 gallon gas tank

That...is a lot.

IMO to pass the 50 percentile, you need a two weeks of canned food, 20 gallons of water, and a first aid kit.

marmaduke• 7 years ago

How much space did that take up? I live in a compact apartment in a European city and don't think I could possibly stock more than 2 weeks, there's just not enough space.

Scoundreller3• 7 years ago

The problem with FEMA’s recommendations is that they’re too general.

If you will have a water supply no matter what (I’m near the Great Lakes), Canned foods are a waste of space and weight. Dry beans, rice, a 5gal collapsible container and purification tablets (or bleach) are better.

chiph• 7 years ago

You can see those recommendations at https://www.ready.gov/

js2• 7 years ago

Waffle House, better than The French Laundry:

https://youtu.be/bct8stbZafI

(RIP Anthony Bourdain.)

'Waffle House Index' is a real thing during disasters

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