Where people live in relation to the eastern and southern U.S.coasts influences their opinions on a range of issues related tonatural disaster preparedness, mitigation, and insurance, accordingto a report from the Insurance Research Council (IRC). The reportis the second in the Monitor series this year examining catastropheissues (click here to view a summary of the first issue).

IRC said the study, Public Attitude Monitor 2006, Issue 2,Influence of Coastal Proximity on Natural Disaster Preparedness andPlanning, analyzes public opinion on natural disaster issues basedon where a respondent lives in relation to the coastline of theAtlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.

Unsurprisingly, results from the IRC study show that support formitigation strategies is strongest among those living in coastalcounties. For instance, 80 percent favored government action topreserve and rebuild wetlands in coastal areas, with 56 percentstrongly favored such action, compared to 45 percent from interiorcounties of coastal states and 38 percent in non-coastalstates.