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Dairy Queen may lay claim to the term \u201cblizzard<\/a>,\u201d referring to its blended ice cream treat. But a Texas fast-food chain has garnered new popularity thanks to its association with another extreme weather event.<\/p>\n Whataburger, a cult-favorite chain among Texans, has become the unlikely source for power outage information following Hurricane Beryl<\/a>\u2019s lashing through the area Monday. The state\u2019s main energy provider, CenterPoint Energy<\/a>, experienced so much traffic, its outage app had technical difficulties loading, leaving residents to find other means of navigating loss of power and local business closures.<\/p>\n The Whataburger app works as a power outage tracker, handy since the electric company doesn’t show a map. \u2014 BBQ Bryan (@BBQBryan) July 9, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Bryan Norton, whose post on X<\/a> about the app hack went viral, was able to ascertain the general pattern of outages across the city by looking at which Whataburger locations were open. A map on the chain\u2019s app showed orange logos for open locations and gray ones for closed stores.\u00a0 Norton has been without power for over 27 hours and has been frequently checking various apps to find open businesses.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt gives you hope because you\u2019re not alone,\u201d the 30-year Houston resident told Fortune<\/em> while he waited in line at his local Whataburger. \u201cBut it also shows how massively widespread this is.\u201d<\/p>\n Norton thought of using the Whataburger app for outage tracking on a trip home last week, when he and his wife stopped to get coffee. Google<\/a> Maps told him a Starbucks<\/a> location was open, but the Starbucks app said the location was closed\u2014and ended up being correct.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s a small comfort to Texans impacted by Monday\u2019s Category 1 hurricane which knocked out power<\/a> in 2.5 million homes and left eight people dead across Louisiana and Texas. As of Wednesday, over 1.6 million households in Houston and counties east of the city are still without power<\/a>. The outages are an even greater inconvenience and danger amid a massive heat wave<\/a> that caused temperatures in Houston to creep above 106 degrees.<\/p>\n CenterPoint published a map<\/a> on its website showing where power has been restored and will replace its outage map with cloud-based data to accommodate greater traffic by the end of the month, CenterPoint spokesperson Joshua Solis told Fortune<\/em>.<\/p>\n Whataburger plans to provide relief in the form of a food truck in the Houston area and will donate water to local shelters through the Red Cross. It said it currently has 106 locations in the greater Houston area open for drive-thru service only.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re glad the Whataburger app has been helpful to Houston residents to understand where power is available in the city,\u201d Whataburger president and CEO Ed Nelson told Fortune<\/em> in a statement. \u201cKeep in mind, the app should only be used as a general idea of power availability. We encourage residents to call local units to see if they are open and operating.\u201d<\/p>\n Texans anointing Whataburger a beacon of knowledge on power outage updates follows an American tradition of fast-food chains being at the center of disaster responses. FEMA has long used the Waffle House Index<\/a> to determine the intensity of natural disasters. If a Waffle House is open and has its full menu available, it likely has full power.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you get there and the Waffle House is closed?\u201d FEMA administrator Craig Fugate said<\/a>. \u201cThat\u2019s really bad. That\u2019s where you go to work.\u201d<\/p>\n Hurricane Beryl is the third major outage Norton has navigated this year, some because of extreme weather, and others because of freak accidents. The frequency of these outages has taught Norton and his fellow Texans to prepare for the worse.<\/p>\n \u201cThe lines for the gas stations are still a block long because people are running out of gas for their generators,\u201d he said, before hanging up so he could place his Whataburger order.\u00a0<\/p>\n Texans have had to adjust to the onslaught of outages impacting the state. Since 2019, there have been 293 outages, lasting about 160 minutes each and affecting an average of 172,000 people, according to a 2024 report by Payless Power<\/a> using data from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). That makes it the state with the most power outages in the country.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not just hurricanes. A freak winter storm in 2021<\/a> plunged temperatures in Texas to record lows\u2014below parts of Alaska\u2014and killed hundreds of people across the state. A June 2023 tornado<\/a> that ripped through East Texas left 200,000 buildings without power and destroyed 200 homes in the small town of Perryton.<\/p>\n There\u2019s some irony to the superlative. Houston has dubbed itself the \u201cEnergy Capital of the World<\/a>,\u201d home to 4,700 energy firms and employing one-third of the nation\u2019s gas and oil extraction jobs. It\u2019s also come under scrutiny for its above-ground power lines prone to toppling due to extreme weather.<\/p>\n \u201cOur (power) infrastructure was built for the weather of the past,\u201d Michael Webber, professor of engineering at the University of Texas, told CNN<\/em><\/a>. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t built for the weather of the future, and the weather of the future is already here.\u201d<\/p>\n The whole country is dealing with an outdated grid: 70% of power lines in the U.S., built between the 1960s and \u201870s, are nearing the end of their lifecycle. As patterns of extreme weather<\/a> increase, so, too, to vulnerabilities to a hobbled grid, Webber warned.<\/p>\n Plans to bury power lines underground have slowly come to fruition. In January, the Energy Department announced $34 million in funding<\/a> for 12 projects across 11 states to improve the grid. But the changes aren\u2019t always popular. The undertaking is expensive, and a $5.9 billion project<\/a> to bury the lines to prevent California wildfires was met with resistance from state regulators who balked at its cost.<\/p>\n In Texas, infrastructure could be better prepared to navigate the hurricane-prone area, Norton admitted, though he doesn\u2019t discount the locals\u2019 ability to weather storms.<\/p>\n \u201cTexans get together, and we support each other,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s what you need to do with any kind of disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Still nearly 1.9 million power outages. pic.twitter.com\/d8srWmw1oV<\/a><\/p>\nThe \u2018Energy Capital of the World\u2019 vs. rampant outages<\/strong><\/h2>\n