Most Utahns believe the federal government’s relief efforts in Texas for Hurricane Harvey are effective, a new UtahPolicy.com poll shows.
Pollster Dan Jones & Associates found that 57 percent of Utahns believe the national government’s efforts worked.
While 13 percent say it didn’t, and nearly a third (30 percent) don’t know.
Those numbers are better than how folks across the nation believe President Donald Trump’s administration has done in helping those harmed by the massive hurricane that hit Texas – and then moved on into other southern states – several weeks ago.
A recent Politico poll finds Americans split on how well the federal government did concerning Harvey.
After Harvey, Florida and the Caribbean were hit by another huge hurricane, and even more recently another one, again, hits parts of the Caribbean and really blasted Puerto Rico, an American territory.
While unfortunate, many Utahns and Americans see anything done by the Trump administration through a politically partisan lens.
And hurricane relief is no different.
Jones finds:
- Among Utah Republicans, 66 percent say the federal government’s efforts with Harvey were effective, only 5 percent say they weren’t, and 29 percent didn’t know.
- Very difficult opinions among Democrats: Only 37 percent said relief efforts worked, 26 percent said they didn’t, and 38 percent didn’t know – a rather high number considering all the media coverage Harvey received.
- Among those who are political independents (don’t belong to any political party): 55 percent believe the feds did a good job with hurricane relief, 16 percent don’t, and 29 percent don’t know.
The Mormon Church, headquartered in Salt Lake City – as is usually the case – made special efforts to help victims in Texas.
Jones finds that 64 percent of “very active” Mormons in Utah believe the federal government’s efforts in Texas were effective, only 8 percent of local Mormons disagree, while 28 percent don’t know.
That confidence level drops dramatically among those who said they are “somewhat” active in the LDS Church and those who told Jones they were once Mormons, but no longer follow the faith:
- Only 46 percent of “somewhat active” Mormons believe the federal government did a good job helping victims of Harvey, 20 percent say they failed, and 35 percent didn’t know.
- Forty-six percent of former Mormons said the government did well, 14 percent said it failed, and 41 percent didn’t know.
- Those who said they have no religion: 40 percent said the feds did well, 24 percent said they failed, and 36 percent didn’t know.
Weather scientists say the creation of huge individual storms, like hurricanes, can’t be placed at the feet of global warming.
However, warming overall is likely to make such weather events more extreme when they do occur.
Jones polled 608 adults from Aug. 30-Sept. 5. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.97 percent.
