Houston, Texas, is recovering after Hurricane Beryl impacted the area on Monday.
Unfortunately, as of Monday, millions of people have lost power.
CenterPoint is the power provider for the area, and they have a map tracking outages. However, it’s currently offline and has been since May.
So, how can you find out which areas have power?
Whataburger.
The burger chain has many, many locations throughout the Houston metro area, and people are using the app as a makeshift power outage detector.
X user BBQ Bryan appeared to be the first person to notice this capability, saying, “The Whataburger app works as a power outage tracker.”
The Whataburger app works as a power outage tracker, handy since the electric company doesn’t show a map.Still nearly 1.9 million power outages. pic.twitter.com/d8srWmw1oV
— BBQ Bryan (@BBQBryan) July 9, 2024
And yep, it apparently really works.
For anyone in the Houston area:With @CenterPoint dropping the ball again and not having a power outage map, there is another option.I saw and confirmed you can use the @Whataburger app and look up the locations in your area. Make sure to use the refresh button. pic.twitter.com/SoKKqEzUOS
— Chaz (@TexansforVader) July 9, 2024
As this person said, “Using the Whataburger app to track power outages after a hurricane is probably the most Houston thing I can possibly imagine.”
Using the Whataburger app to track power outages after a hurricane is probably the most Houston thing I can possibly imagine. https://t.co/Jmms5CJGdr
— Steven #GoCoogs Hiller (@StevenHiller18) July 9, 2024
This person called it the “most US phenomenon in existence.”
This is the most US phenomenom in existence. No immediate data on power outages, but it’s possible to track blackouts vía an app that shows which hamburger joints are open https://t.co/TtnX0r44sJ
— Joshua Collins (@InvisiblesMuros) July 9, 2024
And this person called it like it is: “More sad than funny.”
For context, the power company, Centerpoint, doesn’t have an outage tracker during a time where 2 million Houstonians are without power. We have to get creative like using Whataburger’s app to track the outages. More sad than funny IMO. https://t.co/9Jd6YhuwSM
— Malaghose (@Malaghose) July 9, 2024
Whataburger commented on its new function, saying, “Well, there’s a use for our app we didn’t think of!”
Well there’s a use for our app we didn’t think of! We hope you and everyone else are okay!Can you DM us a good mailing address? We’d love to send you something for using the app so creatively!
— Whataburger® (@Whataburger) July 9, 2024
Bye!
Source Agencies
