After tornadoes in Texas: burger chain app becomes power outage tracker
After Hurricane Beryl hit Texas, residents turned to a burger chain's app to get information about power outages.
A well-developed fast food network can mutate into an information portal in the event of a crisis.
(Image: T. Schneider/Shutterstock.com)
After Hurricane Beryl hit Texas earlier this week, 2.2 million people were without power – 1.7 million of them are with utility Centerpoint Energy, according to local media reports. Because its customers were searching in vain for updates on the power outage, they were looking for a way out: The burger chain Whataburger's app. On the chain's color-coded location map, an orange "W" logo indicates that the restaurant is open. It is gray when it is closed. This tells people that there is a power cut in their district.
The X user @BBQBryan, who posted his discovery on Monday, came up with the idea and has since received more than 12 million views and 35,000 likes. "The Whataburger app works as a power outage tracker, handy since the electric company doesn't show a map," @BBQBryan said.
"We're excited that the Whataburger app has helped Houstonians understand where power is available in the city," Whataburger President and CEO Ed Nelson told USA Today. As soon as the restaurants are open, the app will be updated in real time. The app keeps affected Texans so well informed because there are 165 Whataburger outlets in the Houston area alone.
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In Germany, the Federal Network Agency lists the "Störungsauskunft", a website operated by Innogy SE, which citizens can use to find out about and report power outages. It shows, for example, how many reports have been received about a fault and, if known, the expected end of the fault.
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