BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — The second out of six reports from the 2022 Louisiana Survey released Thursday showed Louisianans’ thoughts on the state’s coastal land loss, hurricanes and flooding.
According to the survey, the majority of those polled, 84%, said coastal land loss will pose a threat to future generations and 62% said the number of hurricanes impacting Louisiana has increased.
Findings from the survey also said:
- Eighty-five percent (85%) said land loss will cause a great deal of harm or a moderate amount of harm to residents of coastal areas in the state, while 73% said it would cause harm to residents across the state as a whole. Similarly, 84% said coastal land loss in Louisiana poses a threat to future generations, but 63% said it will hurt their own generation. Only half of state residents expect land loss to cause harm to them personally.
- Two-thirds of respondents (67%) said hurricanes impacting the state are stronger than those of the past. Nearly as many (62%) said the number of hurricanes impacting the state has increased. Fewer (43%) said flooding in their local community is more common than in the past.
- Majorities support elevation requirements for new construction in areas at high risk of flooding (87%) and paying property owners to elevate existing buildings in these areas (62%). A majority opposes raising insurance rates for properties in these areas (58%). Opinion is more closely divided over requiring owners of existing properties to raise them, prohibiting new construction in these areas, and paying residents of areas at risk of flooding to move to safer areas.
The survey conducted by researchers in the Public Policy Research Lab polled 508 adult residents through telephone-based surveys and polled 623 adult residents in an online survey.
To view the full report, click here.
