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Article Date: 12 Sep 2006 - 12:00pm (PDT)
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More than two-thirds of the Hurricane Katrina
evacuees who fled to Houston for shelter a year ago
said they plan to remain here, according to a recent
survey by researchers at Rice University.
Of 362 evacuees surveyed in July, nearly 69 percent
said it was "very likely" or "somewhat likely" they
will permanently stay in Houston. Nineteen percent
said it was "unlikely" and 12 percent said it was
"very unlikely" that they would stay in Houston.
A white paper summarizing the results of this
National Science Foundation-funded survey is
available online at
http://brl.rice.edu/katrina/. The survey focused
on mostly poor, African-American, unemployed and
uneducated Katrina evacuees in Houston - a
population estimated at 35,000 to 40,000 people -
and was conducted in apartment complexes where
evacuees live.
The researchers conducted three waves of surveys -
one in September 2005 right after many of the
evacuees were bussed to shelters in Houston, one in
November 2005 after the evacuees were relocated
temporarily into apartments and hotels, and one in
July 2006 after they had been settled into
apartments. Each wave involved just over 350
different evacuees.
"When you compare the results of the first survey
with those from the third round, it's clear that
uncertainty about remaining in Houston has decreased
among the group that we targeted," said principal
investigator Rick Wilson, chair of political science
at Rice. "However, what is very interesting is that
even at the outset, sizeable portions of the
population thought it was very unlikely they would
return to Louisiana."
Just under 50 percent of those surveyed shortly
after they arrived in Houston said it was likely
they would remain in Houston, and 30 percent said
they did not know how long they would be here. By
November, 46 percent expected to be in Houston at
least a year, and almost 37 percent expected to be
here more than a year.
While about 60 percent of the evacuees surveyed had
been employed in New Orleans before Katrina, a
little more than 60 percent are now unemployed.
Almost 74 percent have an annual income of less than
$15,000, and almost 17 percent have an income of
between $15,000 and $25,000. "Respondents to the
study often complained about the difficulty with
finding jobs in Houston, in part due to the lack of
social networks and in part due to problems with
figuring out the transportation system in Houston
and getting around the city," Wilson said.
Forty-four percent of the evacuees who rated their
health as "fair or poor" in comparison to others in
their age group said they felt worse now than the
day before Katrina. Forty-six percent currently have
no health insurance; given that 29 percent had no
health insurance before Katrina, the researchers
attributed the increase in uninsured to the rise in
unemployment among the evacuees.
Between 50 and 57 percent of the evacuees said their
lives are worse today than before Katrina in regard
to finding a job, transportation, getting around
Houston and access to friends and relatives. But 57
percent said their lives are better in regard to
Houston schools.
The evacuees' ratings of the performance of elected
officials and government agencies in responding to
the hurricane and flooding and later in dealing with
relocation and assistance suggest that they blame
mostly the federal government for the outcome.
President George W. Bush received a favorable rating
from only 15 percent at the time of the evacuation,
from 28 percent during relocation in Houston, and
from 20 percent almost a year after adjustment to
living in Houston. Louisiana Governor Kathleen
Blanco's favorable approval rating during these same
intervals were 26 percent, 40 percent and 34
percent, respectively. In contrast, New Orleans
Mayor Ray Nagin received consistently higher
approval ratings: 41, 46 and 46 percent for the same
periods.
Houston Mayor Bill White received even higher
consistent approval ratings when evacuees evaluated
his performance in responding to Katrina since their
arrival in Houston, with 74 and 76 percent giving a
favorable ranking in November and July,
respectively. FEMA did not fare as well; a favorable
evaluation of 62 percent in November dropped to 41
percent in July. The evacuees also became
less-satisfied with the Red Cross, as reflected in a
favorable rating of 74 percent in November dropping
to 66 percent in July.
"Expectations may have been much higher for the
performance of FEMA and the Red Cross after evacuees
arrived in Houston," said Bob Stein, Rice professor
of political science, who helped analyze the data.
"Evacuees may have also expected these relief
agencies to have taken greater responsibility for
their relocation to Houston than either the mayor or
city government."
Of the 362 participants in the July survey, 55
percent were female and 45 percent were male. Almost
half (47 percent) were between the ages of 18 and
34; 30 percent were between 35 and 49 years of age;
23 percent were 50 or older. Fifty-five percent were
single; 27 percent were married or living with a
partner; 14 percent were divorced or separated; and
4 percent were widowed. About one-third of the
survey participants had less than a high school
education, and one-third had taken some college
courses or earned a college degree.
Wilson noted that the three rounds of surveys
sampled three distinct cross sections and were not
intended to represent all Katrina evacuees. The
first wave focused on people who had recently
arrived in shelters across Houston. The second wave
was conducted in hotels and apartment complexes as
evacuees were in transit between the two types of
housing. The third wave focused on evacuees in
apartment complexes almost a year after the evacuees
had settled into Houston. The researchers used a
convenience sampling method, soliciting volunteers
in each wave, and compared the demographics from
their first and third waves to similar samples taken
by other pollsters at approximately the same time.
###
Contact: B.J. Almond
Rice University
