Questions - Hurricane Irene Aftermath - September 3-4, 2011

National Survey of 1,000 Adults
Conducted September 3-4, 2011

By Rasmussen Reports

1*  How closely have you followed recent news reports about Hurricane Irene and its aftermath?

2*  How do you rate the federal government’s response to Hurricane Irene?

3* Did government officials overreact to the dangers posed by Hurricane Irene?

4*  Before the storm hit, did the media overstate the potential danger of Irene, understate the potential danger or accurately estimate the potential danger of Irene?

5* [Only asked of those who answered ‘overestimated’ in previous question] Did the national media intentionally overstate the potential danger of Irene or did they honestly think it could be as bad as predicted?

6*  When a disaster like Hurricane Irene hits, does the federal government provide too much financial aid to victims, not enough financial aid or about the right amount of financial aid to victims?

7*  Should the federal government pay for damage to homes caused by flooding from Hurricane Irene or should individual homeowners have flood insurance?

8*  A proposal has been made to offset any federal disaster aid in response to Hurricane Irene with comparable cuts in other areas of government spending. Do you favor or oppose requiring any federal disaster relief to be offset with comparable spending cuts elsewhere in the federal budget?

9* Generally speaking, who should bear most of the financial responsibility for repairing the areas affected by Hurricane Irene - the federal government, local agencies or the individuals themselves?

NOTE: Margin of Sampling Error, +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence