Report: Hurricane Katrina and the Accountability Community

On September 28, 2005, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) released Hurricane Katrina - Providing Oversight of the Nation's Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Activities. This was the statement of Norman J. Rabkin, the GAO's Managing Director of Homeland Security and Justice Issues.

The issue of accountability (or blame) is looming large over several federal agencies. It should. It is important for the public to understand what agencies fulfilled their duties as expected and why they were able to be successful. It is at least equally important and maybe more important that we also understand what agencies did not perform at the level the public expected. Thus, the cited GAO report looks at what it calls the "accountability community", the range of agencies' inspectors general, to deliver the accountability needed to assure that fraud, waste, and abuse in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina are minimized. The GAO also hopes this and subsequent reports will contribute to improved future preparedness and response.

Issues covered in this 25-page GAO report or in the accompanying links to preceding GAO reports include:

• Health care
• Energy
• Environmental
• Telecommunications
• Flood control
• Insurance
• Military's role, including national guard and reserves
• Preparedness
• Response
• Recovery
• Public health