Legal And Bureaucratic Accountability Of The Army Corps Of Engineers

This case summarizes events preceding the Hurricane Katrina, which was one of the worst natural catastrophes in the modern history of the USA. It raises questions about the lack of reasonable prevention and preparation actions due to flimsy structure and management of the responsible organizations and persons, invalidity and inconsistence of their actions and incapability of making the decisions in a timely manner. As a result of the unstructured and incoherent activities, we could observe several ineffective and costly attempts to mitigate floods and hurricanes. In the beginning the local officials, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and “White Houses past and present always seem penny-wise and pound-foolish” because of the chain of the wrong

How did history play a role in the mismanagement of the crisis in New Orleans?

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, Louisiana and the Gulf Coast. The results were catastrophic. Katrina and storm-related flooding took more than 1,800 lives and caused an estimated $81 billion in damages. In the storm’s aftermath, there was widespread debate over government response to the disaster. I believe that the bulk of the responsibility lay with the state and local governments. They should have been better prepared ahead of time and had more comprehensive plans in place to minimize danger to citizens. The national government has traditionally only sent its military into a state at the request of that state’s governor. The governors of Louisiana and Mississippi did not immediately request that action (Fraga, L.

In my opinion, all three levels of government failed the people of New Orleans in responding to Hurricane Katrina. There was plenty of pushing the blame on one another that ended up delaying responses and finding results. It seemed like one level of government would try saying the other level of government is responsible for that role. For example, The Director of FEMA, Michael Brown would say that the local and state are in charge of evacuation planning. There is some truth to that, but according to the U.S federal law governing homeland security it states that FEMA, “operations to save lives, through evacuating potential victims.” (Producers, 2005).

Over the years of Hurricane Katrina, FEMA faced many criticisms. Not only FEMA, but “every level of government was roundly criticized”( Howellq ). Back in 9/11, They acted fast and accordingly to the disaster. During hurricane Katrina, they were slow and had false promises that the locals of New Orleans believed ( Maestri, “The Storm”, PBS ). Many people asked FEMA for resources and help, but that turned down because they did not “ask the right way” ( Hale “The Storm”, PBS). During an interview with one of FEMA’s secretaries, “Michael Brown”, had claimed that FEMA could not help Louisiana because they didn’t tell them what they

There was some basis for holding the State of WV responsible for the Buffalo Creek Disaster (BCD) since a WV statute prohibits the construction of any dam or other obstruction over 15 feet in height across any stream or watercourse without a prior determination by the State that it is safe. The State of WV had never agreed that Dam 3 (which was 60 feet high) was safe. The State was at fault for not enforcing its own laws. But Arch Moore, the Governor of WV blamed the trouble on the media, the “irresponsible” media that publicized these attacks. Governor Moore qualified the mediatization “an even greater tragedy than the accident itself”.

Accountability by definition means the quality or state of being accountable; especially : an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one 's actions. Accountability stems from late Latin accomptare (to account), a prefixed form of computare (to calculate), which in turn derived from putare (to reckon). While the word itself does not appear in English until its use in 13th century Norman England, the concept of account-giving has ancient roots in record keeping activities related to governance and money-lending systems that first developed in Ancient Egypt, Israel, Babylon, Greece, and later, Rome. In the United States Marine Corps it is very important to hold yourself accountable for all actions especially true the longer you are in. To myself it refers to the obligation of an individual to report formally to his superiors for the proper discharge of his responsibility. It is the answer ability of a subordinate to render an account of his activities to his superior. The person who accepts responsibility is accountable for the performance of the assigned duties. As such being late to work is a direct violation of accountability. Forgetting ones required materials for work may seem small and harmless but overall may develop into bigger issues if not dealt with accordingly.

Although many things about engineering are positive there is a dark side. We depend on them and while engineers are making innovations for us, and maintaining life as the way we know it they also struggle with ethical issues such as plagiarism, confidentiality, and whistleblowing. Just like the list of golden rules we learned as young children, engineers uphold a list of ethical rules to guide them to make the ethically correct decision when one of these situations arise. Bribery the act of receiving or giving a gift with something required in return is another example of an ethical issue that can entice engineers to break the code (“Gifts and Bribes”, 2006). Unfortunately this was the case for a former manager of the Army Corps of Engineers whose greed caused him to break the ethical canons to “avoid deceptive acts”, to “conduct themselves honorably, responsibly, and lawfully as to enhance the honor, reputation, and usefulness of the profession”, and finally to “hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public” (“Code of Ethics”). His misconduct is an example of the unethical decisions some engineers make.

Preventing Delays as seen in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina through the Education of State and Federal Officials on Laws and

Katrina hit New Orleans, Louisiana on August 29th, 2005, but the failure of the local government started before this day “by allowing building and growing in areas in low flood lands.” The local government did not regulate these land areas that have always

Even though it is the responsibility of the federal and state governments to aid citizens during times of disaster, the people devastated by Hurricane Katrina were not effectively facilitated as according to their rights as citizens of the United States. The government’s failures to deliver assistance to citizens stem from inadequate protection systems in place before the storm even struck. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security were the two largest incumbents in the wake of the storm. The failure of these agencies rests on the shoulders of those chosen to head the agency. These directors, appointed by then president George W. Bush, were not capable of leading large government agencies through a

In a time of crisis, the government response to the situation at hand was poor and inefficient. There were numerous flaws and errors in the relief plan proposed to the government which in turn led to delayed relief to victims in need. The immediate response phase after Katrina lasted roughly 12 days. During this time, “victims were evacuated, rescued, sheltered, and received medical care from first responders, charities and other non-governmental organizations, and private citizens”(McNeill, 2011). The fact that the U.S. government organizations were not the first responders to the disaster is shameful for our country.

The Hurricane Katrina disaster highly challenged the operations of FEMA thereby leading to great changes in the agency. The Storm that is ranked as the third most intense U.S. landfalling intense caught the FEMA and at large the Department of Homeland Security unprepared thereby leading to severe losses. The hurricane claimed more than 1200 individuals and a total property of around $108 billion, of which could have minimized if FEMA could have carried out its operations effectively (Bea, 2006).

The following essay is definitions, and examples of how responsibility, accountability and time management are important to succeeding in today’s Army. Responsibility is increased when soldiers have a single, clear set of rules that apply to a specific event. When the guidelines are unclear, or when more than one set of rules seems to apply to an event, responsibility is decreased. Responsibility is: the obligation for the proper, custody, care, and safekeeping of property or funds entrusted to the possession or supervision of an individual. Being responsible in the United States Army has got to be of the utmost importance in my opinion.

Leaders tend to hide information from citizens, state, and federal organization always state that it is for their own good or that they withhold information because they did not wish to create panic and wanted to lessen the impact it could have on the citizens. Thereby, even before hurricane Katrina, New Orleans governor was aware of the problem(s) with the levee. According to Irons (2005, p. 4) Governor Blanco, who recently released her actions in preparing for and responding to Hurricane Katrina, states that no one ever predicted or