Poll: Irene, Lee damaged 4% of U.S. homes

John Egan

Hurricanes Irene and Lee damaged 4 percent of U.S. homes, according to an Ipsos Public Affairs survey. Three percent of the more than 1,000 American adults surveyed said the hurricanes had caused water damage and 2 percent said the storms had caused wind damage.

In the Northeast, the numbers of people affected by the storms were much higher, the survey shows. Twelve percent of people in the Northeast said their homes were damaged by Irene or Lee, with 10 percent citing water damage and 4 percent citing wind damage.

Other findings of the survey include:

• Eight percent of Americans said they had ever filed an insurance claim for damage from a hurricane or storm before Irene or Lee struck. In the South, that number was 14 percent.

• Averaging answers for 21 homeowner’s insurance companies, 25 percent of those surveyed nationwide expressed a favorable opinion of those insurers and 8 percent expressed a negative opinion.

• 41 percent of people nationwide expressed an unfavorable opinion of the insurance industry, compared with 21 percent who expressed a favorable opinion.

The online poll was conducted Sept. 12-15, 2011.