20 years after Hurricane Katrina, Americans want improvements to U.S. disaster preparedness
Washington DC, August 28, 2025 - Twenty years after Hurricane Katrina exposed critical weaknesses in America's disaster response system, a new USA Today/Ipsos poll reveals overall low public confidence in federal emergency management amidst recent decline in funding for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), among other federal agencies. At the same time, a strong majority of Americans believe services that FEMA provides are very necessary, and most support increasing its budget to support future natural disasters.
Key findings:
- More than eight in ten Americans (84%) agree it's very important to have well-coordinated and well-funded emergency response systems.
- A strong majority believe the federal government (71%), state governments (83%), and local governments (79%) all should play a major role in disaster preparedness. Democrats (87%) are more likely than Republicans (65%) to agree that the federal government should play a major role.
- Only 30% overall express confidence in the federal government's ability to handle a major natural disaster, with confidence higher among Republicans (52%) and lower among Democrats (14%). Overall confidence is higher in state and local government (48% and 49%, respectively).
- Nearly two in five (37%) believe the federal response to a hurricane like Katrina would be worse today than it was two decades ago, while only 22% think it would be better. Democrats are more likely than Republicans to believe the response today would be worse (64% and 11%, respectively).
- While 57% of Americans overall believe FEMA's budget should be increased due to more frequent severe weather events, partisan views diverge dramatically: 82% of Democrats support increasing FEMA's budget compared to just 38% of Republicans.
These findings come as Americans report experiencing more extreme weather. A majority (57%) say unusual weather patterns have become more frequent in their areas over the past decade, with extreme heat (55%), poor air quality (49%), and severe storms (39%) topping the list. Looking forward, 58% expect extreme weather events to increase. This USA Today/Ipsos research also reveals stark partisan divides about both current weather conditions and future risks due to climate change.
About the Study
This USA Today/Ipsos poll was conducted from June 13th through June 15th, 2025, using the probability-based KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,023 adults age 18 or older. The sample includes 281 Republicans, 307 Democrats, and 321 independents.
The survey was conducted using KnowledgePanel, the largest and most well-established online probability-based panel that is representative of the adult U.S. population. Our recruitment process employs a scientifically developed addressed-based sampling methodology using the latest Delivery Sequence File of the USPS – a database with full coverage of all delivery points in the U.S. Households invited to join the panel are randomly selected from all available households in the U.S. Persons in the sampled households are invited to join and participate in the panel. Those selected who do not already have internet access are provided a tablet and internet connection at no cost to the panel member. Those who join the panel and who are selected to participate in a survey are sent a unique password-protected log-in used to complete surveys online. As a result of our recruitment and sampling methodologies, samples from KnowledgePanel cover all households regardless of their phone or internet status and findings can be reported with a margin of sampling error and projected to the general population.
The data for the total sample were weighted to adjust for gender by age, race/ethnicity, education, Census region, metropolitan status, and household income. Party ID benchmarks are from the 2024 National Public Opinion Reference Survey (NPORS). The demographic benchmarks came from the 2024 March Supplement of the Current Population Survey (CPS).
- Gender (Male, Female) by Age (18–29, 30–44, 45-59 and 60+)
- Race/Hispanic Ethnicity (White Non-Hispanic, Black Non-Hispanic, Other, Non-Hispanic, Hispanic, 2+ Races, Non-Hispanic)
- Education (Less than High School, High School, Some College, Bachelor or higher)
- Census Region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West)
- Metropolitan status (Metro, non-Metro)
- Household Income (Under $25,000, $25,000-$49,999, $50,000-$74,999, $75,000-$99,999, $100,000-$149,999, $150,000+)
- Party ID (Republican, Leans Republican, Independent/Other, Democrat, Leans Democrat)
The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level for results based on the entire sample of adults. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.11 For Republicans, the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 6.1 percentage points, and the design effect is 1.08. For Democrats, the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 5.9 percentage points, and the design effect is 1.10. For independents, the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 5.8 percentage points, and the design effect is 1.13.
The margin of sampling error is higher and varies for results based on sub-samples. In our reporting of the findings, percentage points are rounded off to the nearest whole number. As a result, percentages in a given table column may total slightly higher or lower than 100%. In questions that permit multiple responses, columns may total substantially more than 100%, depending on the number of different responses offered by each respondent.
Some data from the survey is trended against past national surveys conducted in July 2023, April 2023, April 2022, April 2021, April 2018, April 2017, August 2006, February 2006, September 2005, and August 2004. Data collected in July 2023, April 2022, April 2021, April 2018, and April 2017 was collected via Ipsos’ non-probability online panel (iSay), while data from 2006 and prior was collected via telephone survey.
For more information on this news release, please contact:
Mallory Newall
Vice President, US
Public Affairs
+1 202 374-2613
[email protected]
About Ipsos
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