Wildfire Recovery: Evaluating Issues Around Rebuilding After a Natural Disaster

The study findings reveal that many homeowners and renters lack wildfire insurance coverage and that the emergency alert notification systems may need to be improved to ensure the safety of all residents in the event of a wildfire. During recovery, residents will need additional information about available resources and the specific services of each, not only for property recovery/rebuilding but also for treating physical and mental health consequences of wildfires. This information may be most widely distributed via the local news and local radio as these were the sources respondents used most for information about the wildfire and recovery process.

Methodology

This telephone survey of 910 current and former residents age 45+ of Jackson County, Oregon was fielded between November 15 and December 5, 2021, by ANR Market Research Consultants using sample provided by Aristotle. ANR completed a total of 910 interviews: 389 via landline telephones, 360 via cell phone, and 161 utilizing text-to-web (TTW) methodology. Survey length averaged 20 minutes. The data are weighted by age and race/ethnicity to benchmarks from the 2019 American Community Survey (ACS).

For more information, please contact Aisha Bonner at abonner@aarp.org. For media inquiries, please contact External Relations at media@aarp.org.