Poll: Most Evacuees Won't Return to New Orleans

A poll taken last week of evacuees shows that only 43% of those displaced by Hurricane Katrina
want to return to New Orleans. Forty-four percent said that they will permenantly relocate, most will just stay in Houston according the poll.

The evacuees polled, all from New Orleans or elsewhere in Louisiana, also said:

-More than half of their homes were destroyed. Two-thirds were renting
their homes and a third were owners.
-Almost three-fourths don't have insurance to cover their loss.
-More than half didn't have health insurance, a usable credit card with
them, or a bank or checking account from which they could withdraw money.
-Nearly three-fourths heard before the hurricane hit that an evacuation
order had been given; a fourth did not.
-More than two-thirds said they didn't evacuate because they didn't realize
how bad the storm and its aftermath would be. More than half -- 55 percent
-- said one factor was that they didn't have a car or a way to leave.

The survey of 680 randomly selected evacuees at Houston-area shelters was
conducted September 10-12 by ICR. The margin of error is plus or minus
4 percentage points. The Harvard School of Public Health collaborated on the project.