Why Texans are using the Whataburger app for power outage updates after Beryl
Marley MalenfantWhen in doubt, go to Whataburger.
Texans without power after Hurricane Beryl looked to the popular burger chain like it was a bat signal, but not necessarily just for food. The Whataburger app, which shows locations that are opened and closed, served as a power outage map to those in the greater Houston area.
One social media user from Houston posted this discovery on X on Monday, receiving more than 7 million views and 32,000 likes as of Wednesday.
Here’s why this discovery matters.
More than 2 million customers without power after Hurricane Beryl
Residents of Texas have been eagerly seeking updates from energy providers, like CenterPoint Energy and Entergy, following widespread power outages and property damage caused by Hurricane Beryl and a previous derecho that struck the region in May.
CenterPoint Energy has been grappling with over 2 million power outages since Monday, but their outage map has been out of commission following previous storms. This has left Texans struggling to find accurate information about the status of their power supply.
The lack of communication has inspired some Texans to turn away from official updates from the utility provider in favor of the orange glow from Whataburger.
"The Whataburger app works as a power outage tracker, handy since the electric company doesn't show a map." said user @BBQBryan, who posted a screenshot of the locator tool on the Whataburger app.
Texans react to power outages
Centerpoint predicts that power will be fully restored by the end of the day Wednesday. Entergy Texas restored power to about 141,000 customers Tuesday and expects to restore power to 50% of customers by end of day Wednesday.
People have shared their frustration with the pace of the restoration. Here is what some people are saying about the power outages.