High Point University Poll: One in Five North Carolinians Felt Hurricane Dorian Effects

HIGH POINT, North Carolina, Sept. 28 [TNSsociologyresearch] -- High Point University issued the following news release:

The most recent HPU Poll finds that about one in five (23%) of North Carolinians said their families were directly affected by Hurricane Dorian. This is compared to 41% that told the HPU Poll in October 2018 that their families were directly affected by Tropical Storm Michael. Thirty-eight percent of residents told the HPU Poll in September 2018 that their families were directly affected by Hurricane Florence.

Nearly nine out of 10 poll respondents (89%) said there were enough notifications about Hurricane Dorian. This is compared to 77% of poll respondents who said in October 2018 there were enough notifications about Tropical Storm Michael, and 95% in September 2018 said there were enough notifications about Hurricane Florence.

Majorities of North Carolina residents (65%) said they were extremely well prepared or very well prepared for Hurricane Dorian. Many North Carolina residents took it upon themselves to stock up on a number of items. The majority of HPU Poll respondents said they made sure to buy water (71%), bread (61%) and toilet paper (56%). Fewer people surveyed said they stocked up on plywood or other materials to protect their homes (17%), beer or other alcoholic beverages (20%), eggs (41%), milk (45%) or fruit (45%).

The HPU Poll asked respondents which storm, Dorian, Michael, or Florence, caused the most damage to their life and property. Only 3% said Dorian, 11% said Michael, about one-third (31%) said Florence. Only 8% said all storms affected their life and property about the same, and 44% said that none of those storms affected them.

"Fewer North Carolinians told us that they were directly affected by Hurricane Dorian," says Brian McDonald, associate director of the HPU Poll and adjunct instructor of survey research methods. "Having been through Florence and Michael last hurricane season, majorities of our poll respondents felt prepared for Dorian, making sure to stock up on water, bread and toilet paper before the storm."

All adults - North Carolinians Affected by Dorian (September 2019)

Now I am going to ask you some questions about the recent hurricane, Dorian.

Were you or members of your family directly affected by Dorian?

Yes - 23%

No - 74%

(Don't know) - 3%

(All adult (North Carolina resident) phone and online sample, surveyed September 13 - 19, 2019, n = 1030 and credibility interval of +/- 3.7%)

All adults - North Carolinians Coast (September 2019)

Would you say that you live on the North Carolina coast?

Yes - 18%

No - 79%

(Don't know) - 2%

(All adult (North Carolina resident) phone and online sample, surveyed September 13 - 19, 2019, n = 1030 and credibility interval of +/- 3.7%)

All adults - North Carolinians Evacuated (September 2019)

Did you evacuate from your home?

Yes - 7%

No - 91%

(Don't know) - 2%

(All adult (North Carolina resident) phone and online sample, surveyed September 13 - 19, 2019, n = 1030 and credibility interval of +/- 3.7%)

All adults - North Carolinians Evacuations Notifications (September 2019)

How seriously do you take evacuation notifications, would you say very seriously, somewhat seriously, not very seriously, or not at all seriously?

Very seriously - 51%

Somewhat seriously - 32%

Not very seriously - 8%

Not at all seriously - 5%

(Don't know) - 4%

(All adult (North Carolina resident) phone and online sample, surveyed September 13 - 19, 2019, n = 1030 and credibility interval of +/- 3.7%)

All adults - State Preparedness (September 2019)

How well do think the state was prepared for the hurricane? Would you say extremely well, very well, moderately well, slightly well, or not well prepared at all?

Extremely well - 20%

Very well - 38%

Moderately well - 27%

Slightly well - 6%

Not well at all - 3%

(Don't know) - 6%

(All adult (North Carolina resident) phone and online sample, surveyed September 13 - 19, 2019, n = 1030 and credibility interval of +/- 3.7%)

All adults - Self Preparedness (September 2019)

How well prepared did you feel you were for Hurricane Dorian? Would you say extremely well prepared, very well prepared, somewhat well-prepared, not very well prepared, or not at all well prepared?

Extremely well prepared - 28%

Very well prepared - 37%

Somewhat well prepared - 24%

Not very well prepared - 9%

Not well at all well prepared - 3%

(Don't know) - 3%

(All adult (North Carolina resident) phone and online sample, surveyed September 13 - 19, 2019, n = 1030 and credibility interval of +/- 3.7%)

All adults - Storm Damage (September 2019)

Thinking about the major storms last year, Michael and Florence, and the most recent storm, Dorian...which one caused the most damage to your life and property?

Michael - 11%

Florence - 31%

Dorian - 3%

(All about the same) - 8%

(None affected me) - 44%

(Don't know/refuse) - 3%

(All adult (North Carolina resident) phone and online sample, surveyed September 13 - 19, 2019, n = 1030 and credibility interval of +/- 3.7%)

All adults - Number of Storm Notifications (September 2019)

Would you say there were enough notifications about Hurricane Dorian?

Yes - 89%

No - 7%

(Don't know/refuse) - 4%

(All adult (North Carolina resident) phone and online sample, surveyed September 13 - 19, 2019, n = 1030 and credibility interval of +/- 3.7%)

All adults - Items Bought Before Storm (September 2019)

Which of these items, if any, did you make sure to buy before Hurricane Dorian hit North Carolina?

[Note: Each respondent was presented with a randomized selection of half of the statements]

View table here: http://www.highpoint.edu/blog/2019/09/hpu-poll-one-in-five-north-carolinians-felt-hurricane-dorian-effects/

(All adult (North Carolina resident) phone and online sample, surveyed September 13 - 19, 2019, n = 1030 and credibility interval of +/- 3.7%)

View table here: http://www.highpoint.edu/blog/2019/09/hpu-poll-one-in-five-north-carolinians-felt-hurricane-dorian-effects/

The most recent HPU Poll was fielded by live interviewers at the High Point University Survey Research Center calling on Sept. 13 - 19, 2019 and an online survey fielded at the same time. The responses from a sample of all North Carolina counties came from 1030 adults interviewed online (802 respondents) as well as landline or cellular telephones (228 respondents). The Survey Research Center contracted with Dynata, formerly Research Now SSI: https://www.dynata.com/ to acquire these samples, and fielded the online survey using its Qualtrics platform. This is a combined sample of live phone interviews and online interviews. The online sampling is from a panel of respondents, so their participation does not adhere to usual assumptions associated with random selection. Therefore, it is not appropriate to assign a classical margin of sampling error for the results. In this case, the SRC provides a credibility interval of plus or minus 3.7%age points to account for a traditional 95% confidence interval for the estimates (plus or minus 3.1%age points) and a design effect of 1.2 (based on the weighting). The data is weighted toward population estimates for age, gender, race, and education level based on U.S. Census numbers for North Carolina. Factors such as question wording and other methodological choices in conducting survey research can introduce additional error into the findings of opinion polls. Details from this survey are available at http://www.highpoint.edu/src/files/2019/09/66memoA.pdf.

Further results and methodological details from the most recent survey and past studies can be found at the Survey Research Center website at http://www.highpoint.edu/src/. The materials online include past press releases as well as memos summarizing the findings (including approval ratings) for each poll since 2010.

The HPU Poll reports methodological details in accordance with the standards set out by AAPOR's Transparency Initiative, and the HPU Survey Research Center is a Charter Member of the Initiative. For more information, see http://transparency.aapor.org/index.php/transparency.

You can follow the HPU Poll on Twitter at https://twitter.com/HPUSurveyCenter.

Dr. Martin Kifer, chair and associate professor of political science, serves as the director of the HPU Poll and Brian McDonald is the associate director of the HPU Poll.