ABC News Hurricane Katrina Anniversary Poll, August 2006

This special topic poll, conducted August 14-20, 2006, is
part of a continuing series of monthly polls that solicit public
opinion on various political and social issues. The focus of this data
collection was on the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Part
1, FEMA Counties, contains data from a sample of 501 adults living in
counties in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama that were designated
as Hurricane Katrina disaster areas. Part 2, Orleans Parish Including
Oversamples, contains data on respondents living in Orleans Parish,
Louisiana, including oversamples of 160 respondents contacted via
landline telephones, and 120 respondents contacted via cell phones.
Respondents were asked to rate the recovery efforts of federal, state,
and local governments with respect to Hurricane Katrina, and how much
trust and confidence they had in the federal government and the
Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) ability to respond to
another disaster. Opinions were collected on whether Hurricane Katrina
was the result of global climate change or just a severe weather
event. Information was collected about the damage caused to
respondents' residence and personal property, as well as the severity
of the damage, how much of the losses were insured, and whether
recovery had already occurred. Respondents were asked to rate the
impact Hurricane Katrina had had on their life, whether they suffered
a long-term negative impact on their finances, health, and emotional
well-being, and whether any friends or family members were seriously
injured or killed as as a result of the hurricane. A series of
questions asked respondents to rate the job of groups involved with
assisting recovery, such as the the United States Small Business
Administration, state relief agencies, and insurance companies. Views
were sought concerning whether respondents' trust in the government
and fellow man was affected by the hurricane, how much they worried
about another hurricane occurring, and how much extra stress was
created by the possibility of another hurricane. Additional topics
addressed whether race and poverty affected the recovery effort, and
whether problems with the relief effort were an indication of racial
inequality in the United States. Demographic variables include sex,
age, race, education level, household income, political party
affiliation, political philosophy, employment status, marital status,
and type of residential area (e.g., urban or rural).