Report: Public wary of government response to hurricanes

While 80% of families from southeast Louisiana have their own, individual hurricane plans, a majority of them have very little confidence in hurricane preparedness on the national level. That’s according to a poll released last week by LSU’s Public Policy Research Lab. “Clearly, the perceived inadequacy of the federal response to Katrina still lingers in the minds of many residents,” says David Brown, research investigator and assistant professor in LSU’s Department of Geography and Anthropology. The poll found that 57% believe their town or parish has a well-developed plan, 62% believe the state does and only 30% believe the federal government has an effective plan in place. About 60% of the respondents also believe that the hurricane protection systems such as levees, warning systems and pumps are better than before Katrina, while 20% of the respondents have “no confidence” in them and believe they offer “no protection” to Louisiana. The telephone survey of more than 500 southeastern Louisiana residents was conducted by PPRL in October and November of 2009. The telephone survey was the second phase of a $130,000 grant from the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium. Final results of the project will be released in April. —Jeremy Alford