In what is perhaps the most unusual use of a fast-food app in recent memory, Texans were able to use the Whataburger app to check which areas still had power during recent outages caused by Hurricane Beryl.
The Whataburger app works as a power outage tracker, handy since the electric company doesn't show a map.
— BBQ Bryan (@BBQBryan) July 9, 2024
Still nearly 1.9 million power outages. pic.twitter.com/d8srWmw1oV
Beryl, a Category 1 hurricane that left millions across the state without power as the heat index climbed into triple digits, has killed at least eight people across Texas and Louisiana as it ravaged the Gulf States this week.
One enterprising Twitter user, disappointed by the lack of official data from his electric company, discovered an incredibly niche but potentially useful life hack: the Whataburger app can serve as an ad-hoc power outage tracker, as it shows you which stores are open and which aren’t.
Great news for OP, apparently: His closest Whataburger was open, as were many other stores on the western edge of Houston; the majority of stores in the center, east, north and south of the city were closed, presumably because of the literal hurricane bearing down on the city.
Sugar Land Hwy 6 @Whataburger is lit up, cars lined up in drive thru. From afar, looks like ppl are ordering & moving forward, it’s not until one reaches intercom & waits to just silence that they realize there’s no one there. It’s closed.Each car takes turns sadly realizing this
— tootles (@_tootles__) July 9, 2024
Unfortunately, at least one report suggests the app is not infallible: A user shared that customers at the Sugar Land Highway 6 Whataburger continued to line up at the drive-thru, with each car reaching the intercom only to realize that nobody was there before driving off, at which point the next car begins the cycle all over again.
Truly, what a tragic snapshot of American life at this particular moment.
I just had some delicious Great Raft in Shreveport this weekend at Herby K's! pic.twitter.com/lBYR00X2tq
— BBQ Bryan (@BBQBryan) July 10, 2024
Like any good brand, Whataburger were in the replies of the tweet, praising OP’s ingenuity and offering to send him something “for using the app so creatively.” Hopefully it’s a gift card he can use at one of the few open Whataburgers in his area, or perhaps a generator considering, y’know, the power outages.
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