'Hell is about to burst forth onto our earth': People panic after dozens of Waffle Houses shut thanks to Matthew as its infamous 'Index' reaches code RED

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Hurricane Matthew has been called a 'once-in-a-lifetime' storm in which evacuation is a matter of 'life or death'.

But it was only when Waffle House announced it was closing 25 locations that many Americans decided the storm must be really bad. 

The beloved 24-hour restaurant chain is famous for staying open during natural disasters, so much so that even a 'Waffle House Index' was created.

FEMA unofficially uses the index, color-coded much like country's terrorism threat advisory scale, to gauge how severely a place was hit by a natural disaster.

A closed Waffle House with a deserted parking lot is seen in Savannah, Georgia on Friday afternoon. It was one of 25 locations the chain shuttered due to Hurricane Matthew

The beloved 24-hour restaurant chain is famous for staying open during natural disasters, so much so that even a 'Waffle House Index' was created

So many who are in the path of Matthew went into a panic on Friday when the chain announced it would have to shut down dozens of restaurants during the storm

Local officials will call restaurants in the area and ask what level they're at. Code green indicates the restaurant is open and serving its full menu.

Yellow signifies that the menu has been scaled back at the location, which means there may be water but no power. 

And red is the rarest - and scariest - of all. The restaurant is completely shut down, meaning the area likely needs serious aid.

When Waffle House announced on Friday morning that 25 restaurants had been closed in Florida, South Carolina and Georgia, Twitter quickly went into meltdown. 

'Non-southerners take note: Waffle Houses closing literally means that hell is about to burst forth unto our earth #HurricaneMatthew,' wrote Audrey Campbell. 

'This is how you know s**t is serious,' another user tweeted. 'Waffle House never closes.'  

'Purpose of a Waffle House: 1) informally but decisively indicate whether the world is going to be destroyed by God's wrath, 2) waffles,' added Kaleb Jorton.  

When a Waffle House restaurant shut down, 'level red', it indicates to FEMA that the area likely needs serious aid. Twitter users said the closures were a sure sign of Matthew's severity 

The Waffle House Index became known after Hurricane Irene hit in 2011, causing 22 of the chain's restaurants to lose power in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware.

Only one of those restaurants, in a severely-hit area on Virginia's coast, remained closed the day after the storm passed through. 

FEMA administrator Craig Fugate was asked at the time how the government agency decided which places to focus on after a natural disaster.

'If you get there and the Waffle House is closed? That's really bad,' he said. 'That's where you go to work.' 

But there's a reason the index has been named after Waffle House and not Denny's or IHOP. 

The chain created an emergency response plan after it lost seven restaurants and had to close 100 more during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, according to Fox News.  

But the chain is famous for its emergency response plan, which went into action after Hurricane Katrina, and even this restaurant in Jacksonville, Florida was still open Friday 

Other users seemed much less stressed about the storm because their local chain was open, happily writing that they were 'chillin' as they ate its famous waffles

Pat Warner, the chain's vice president of culture, said Waffle House has since invested heavily in emergency response technology and deployment systems.

This includes vehicles that are deployed to the edge of emergency zones, ready to help affected restaurants as soon as the worst of the storm passes. 

They provide generators and begin any necessary repairs to help get the Waffle House location up and running as soon as possible for its locals.

Warner said restaurants in Florida and the Carolinas were stocking up on extra food items and planned to serve a limited menu so that busy restaurants could serve more customers in the wake of the storm. 

But Hurricane Matthew has been relentless, also forcing Walt Disney World to shut its doors for only the fourth time in its 45-year history. 

All Waffle House restaurants between Titusville and Fort Pierce (pictured) in Florida were closed on Thursday night after Matthew battered the state's central coast 

The storm has claimed at least 572 lives after ripping through Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and has left 600,000 Floridians without power (pictured is Cocoa Beach, Florida)

The storm has claimed at least 842 lives after ripping through Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and has left 600,000 Floridians without power.

Now the Eastern Coast is bracing for the worst as Matthew's eyewall, the most dangerous part of the storm, moves north. 

Warner said shutting down was a 'big deal' for the 24-hour restaurant chain. 

'When it comes to making the final decision, we let our operations team on the ground, like individual restaurant managers, make the final decision based on local decisions,' he said. 

But Warner added that there is one thing fans can know for sure after Matthew passes.

Their local Waffle House will reopen - and a hot meal will be waiting for them.