PERCEPTIONS OF HURRICANE KATRINA RELIEF EFFORTS IN UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA-CHAPEL HILL AND UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA STUDENTS

Abstract

Several studies have been conducted in which American citizens were polled about their perception of relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, but all have focused on statistics rather than on details of subjects’ reasoning and experiences. There is also little in-depth information currently available regarding the experiences and attitudes of the individual volunteers who responded to the disaster by participating in the relief effort after Hurricane Katrina. For this study, I analyze the responses of the general student population to those of volunteers who felt moved enough to offer help and who have personally seen the aftermath of the hurricane. This study seeks to compare UNC student responses to University of Arizona student responses. Using a qualitative approach, this study seeks to unpack these statistics to reveal the human element regarding the relief and rebuilding efforts of Hurricane Katrina. While these findings are not to be interpreted as conclusive of any population, I seek to find out how exposure to media reports surrounding the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina influenced public perception. What other factors did the subjects use to empathize with Hurricane Katrina evacuees? Also, I attempt to identify what other factors people used to explain the slow Hurricane Katrina response.