Restaurant Finder App Becomes Unlikely Power Outage Tracker Amid CenterPoint Energy’s Delays
What an app! Whataburger’s restaurant finder, which pinpoints the brand’s fast-food units that are currently open, allows Texans to track post-hurricane electric outages rather than using information provided by the utility company CenterPoint Energy. Texas has 769 Whataburger restaurants, according to Hasdata.com, with 165 in the greater Houston area, which was slammed by Hurricane Beryl.
That unintended use of the Whataburger app may seem like a quirky little nugget of local news, but it made headlines far and wide: Bloomberg News, Business Insider, Forbes, Fortune, the New York Post and USA Today carried articles about the app being used by resourceful residents of the Lone Star State. Reports about the helpful app may have been boosted by the ferocity of record-setting Hurricane Beryl, which for days has been a top story for news media from coast to coast. Beryl was the strongest hurricane ever for June and July, and it intensified more rapidly than any previous hurricane before Sept. 1, when the more powerful hurricanes usually erupt in the Atlantic, according to CNBC.
CenterPoint Communications Fall Short
Texas’ Gulf Coast residents had tried to get meaningful information from CenterPoint, which was tasked with restoring power to about 2.7 million customers this past week. The company was slow to publish a map of outages and repair progress. As a result, social media buzzed with residents’ complaints when CenterPoint would say that workers were on the job in their areas, but no one living in those locations could see work underway. The sweating, sweltering folks raged about CenterPoint’s inadequacy and inaccuracy relating to repair reports.
That led many resourceful to turn to their trusty Whataburger app. They examine its restaurant locator map, which indicates open sites by showing the fast-food chain’s trademark W logo in orange. When a Whataburger is closed, the app map shows the W in gray. A Whataburger representative told USA Today that the company updates its map in real time as restaurants open. In coastal counties this week, that gray typically meant Beryl had knocked out power to the restaurant.
Tweet Plugs Whataburger App
USA Today documented Houstonian @BBQBryan revelation of his tip for creatively using the app on X (formerly Twitter): “The Whataburger app works as a power outage tracker, handy since the electric company doesn’t show a map.” That Monday post had racked up more than 7 million views and 24,000 likes by Tuesday. Whataburger even posted a response: “Well there’s a use for our app we didn’t think of! We hope you and everyone else are okay!”
The New York Post cited another cheeky tweet: “With power being IN N OUT of service around Houston, WHATABURGER saves the day!” – a reference to one of the Whataburger franchise’s rival brands, In-N-Out Burger. (Of course the app’s map of open and closed restaurant sites also helped hungry Texans find food when their home-cooking options were limited by the lack of electricity, courtesy of Beryl.)
Response from Whataburger CEO
“Whataburger is that friend by your side in good times and bad,” Whataburger President and CEO said in a statement quoted by Houston CBS-TV affiliate KHOU. “We’re glad the Whataburger app has been helpful to Houston residents to understand where power is available in the city. Keep 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. Everyone, please be safe if you leave your home.”
