HAMDEN, Conn., March 27 (UPI) -- Most New Jersey voters asked say they aren't changing vacation plans because of Hurricane Sandy and say recovery efforts are going well, a poll indicated.
They also said they like how Gov. Chris Christie has led the storm recovery, a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday indicated.
About 85 percent of voters surveyed said their plans about where to vacation hadn't changed because of damage to the Jersey Shore left by Sandy, and 74 percent said restoration efforts were going "very well" or "somewhat well," the poll said.
Similar numbers -- 85 percent to 10 percent -- approved of how Christie had handled the crisis.
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State and local governments also got good marks for their involvement in post-Sandy efforts. Some 74 percent rated local governments as "excellent" or "good," while 70 percent ranked the state government as "excellent" or "good."
Other groups did not do near so well.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency was ranked as "excellent" or "good" by 43 percent of those polled, with 47 percent saying the agency's performance was "not so good" or "poor."
Insurance companies got the worst marks. The poll indicated 56 percent of respondents ranked them as "not so good" or "poor," while 25 percent said the companies' did an "excellent" or "good" job.
About 69 percent, and 75 percent of shore-area residents, said they approved of building sand dunes and sea walls to protect ocean-side communities, even if some views would be blocked.
An overwhelming 73 percent said the government should buy flood-threatened properties to take them out of further development.
The poll of 1,129 registered voters was conducted March 19-24. It has a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.
