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Breakdowns of accountability in the face of natural disasters: The case of Hurricane Katrina

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  • Baker, C. Richard

Abstract

Hurricane Katrina, which struck the Gulf Cost of the United States at the end of August 2005, was one of the most costly and deadly natural disasters ever experienced by the United States. A breach of levees and the subsequent flooding of the city of New Orleans resulted in the displacement of more than 250,000 people. The death toll exceeded 1800 persons and total damages were estimated to exceed $125 billion. The response to the hurricane by city, state and the federal governments has been severely criticized by many commentators. The purpose of this paper is to examine breakdowns in accountability during and after the storm which were manifested by a lack of communication between government officials and a failure on the part of officials to act responsibly on behalf of victims, many of whom were poor, black and elderly. We also examine whether the breakdown in accountability may be traceable to institutional racism embedded in the history and geography of the city of New Orleans. Following McKernan's (2012) argument, the paper reinforces the need to go beyond a “calculative accountability” toward “the potential of accountability to enhance levels of responsibility for the other” (p. 259). It is this moral aspect to the concept of accountability that was sorely lacking in the response of government officials to Hurricane Katrina.

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  • Baker, C. Richard, 2014. "Breakdowns of accountability in the face of natural disasters: The case of Hurricane Katrina," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 25(7), pages 620-632.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:crpeac:v:25:y:2014:i:7:p:620-632
    DOI: 10.1016/j.cpa.2014.02.005
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    2. Lai, Alessandro & Leoni, Giulia & Stacchezzini, Riccardo, 2014. "The socializing effects of accounting in flood recovery," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 25(7), pages 579-603.
    3. Annisette, Marcia & Prasad, Ajnesh, 2017. "Critical accounting research in hyper-racial times," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 5-19.
    4. Perkiss, Stephanie & Moerman, Lee, 2020. "Hurricane Katrina: Exploring justice and fairness as a sociology of common good(s)," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 67.
    5. Alshurafa, Mohammed & Aboramadan, Mohammed & Haniffa, Roszaini, 2023. "Digital postcolonialism and NGO accountability during COVID-19: Evidence from the Gaza Strip," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(5).
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    7. Frey-Heger, Corinna & Barrett, Michael, 2021. "Possibilities and limits of social accountability: The consequences of visibility as recognition and exposure in refugee crises," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    8. Jonida Carungu & Nicola Paolicelli, 2018. "L?intervento della Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena e il contributo del book-keeping nel "render conto" sulla gestione del terremoto del 1798," CONTABILIT? E CULTURA AZIENDALE, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2018(2), pages 85-117.
    9. Stefania Servalli & Massimo Sargiacomo, 2021. "Natural disasters and accounting: Which contributions form the past?," CONTABILIT? E CULTURA AZIENDALE, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 0(1), pages 5-9.
    10. Jill Atkins & Federica Doni & Andrea Gasperini & Sonia Artuso & Ilaria Torre & Lorena Sorrentino, 2023. "Exploring the Effectiveness of Sustainability Measurement: Which ESG Metrics Will Survive COVID-19?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 185(3), pages 629-646, July.
    11. Sargiacomo, Massimo & Ianni, Luca & Everett, Jeff, 2014. "Accounting for suffering: Calculative practices in the field of disaster relief," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 25(7), pages 652-669.

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