A new poll from Elon University is gauging how Hurricane Florence affected North Carolinians.
The poll looks at several things: how individuals prepared for Hurricane Florence, what effects the storm had on residents, and attitudes about policy issues related to it.
When asked about increasing environmental regulations for hog farms, over half of respondents say it's a good idea, and seventy-nine percent say it's also a good idea for coal ash ponds.
Director of the Elon Poll Jason Husser says local weather events can have an impact on how individuals think about global patterns.
“So now we're measuring 51 percent of folks saying it's very likely that climate change will negatively impact the coast within the next 50 years, 30 percent somewhat likely, and 18 percent not at all likely,” he says.
That's up from responses following Hurricane Harvey in Texas, when forty-five percent of respondents said a negative impact from climate change was very likely.