TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis put on the gloves and picked up a spatula at a Sarasota-area Waffle House on Thursday to help cook for first responders after Hurricane Milton left a path of destruction across the Tampa Bay area.

“We just helped a little bit with the hashbrown operations,” DeSantis said. “They’re limited menu. Although, to see Waffle House open, you know that we’re getting back up on our feet.”

Known as the Waffle House Index, what might sound like silly logic has become one of the most reliable ways for Southerners to gauge a storm’s severity and identify communities most in need of immediate aid.  If the Georgia-based restaurant chain stays open in town, neighbors are reassured that a storm is unlikely to cause devastation. A closed location of the dependable diner chain has come to indicate disaster. 

DeSantis said the Waffle House is not making waffles because it requires more generator power than the griddle.

“They’re doing the steak and cheese and sausage on the hashbrowns, so it was a limited menu, but it was fun to be able to help out,” he said.

Milton made landfall as a Category 3 near Siesta Key in Sarasota County on Wednesday night. Arriving just two weeks after the devastating Hurricane Helene, the system flooded barrier islands, tore the roof off the Tampa Bay Rays’ baseball stadium and toppled a construction crane.

DeSantis warned people to not let down their guard, citing ongoing threats to safety including downed power lines and flooded areas.

“You have to make the proper decisions and know that there are hazards out there,” he said Friday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.