Moral Responsibility for Natural Disasters

Hurricane Katrina 

Hurricane Katrina occurred in 2005, one year after the DHS formed the National Response Plan. However, notwithstanding the intensified attention to DHS, the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina was a failure. Because the government appeared incapable of providing simple protection from the aftermath of Katrina (Moynihan, 2009). The poor response was attributed to the failure to manage different risk factors. The first responders had received a warning but failed to prepare for the disaster. Additionally, the administration's dispersed nature in the United States intergovernmental response system further undermined the response because the federal responders did not see the need to take the threats seriously.

The history of corruption in government and the colorful politics in Louisiana underwrote the government's poor response (Jurkiewicz, 2007). These issues underwrote inefficiencies in response to Hurricane Katrina because there was slow response and reclamation. The government was also slow in creating recovery initiatives. Therefore, it is possible to make a connection between inefficiency and ethical behavior among leaders in the poor response to Hurricane Katrina. The state of Louisiana should have collaborated with the DHS after receiving warnings on the imminent disaster to develop a more comprehensive and rapid response to the hurricane. Additionally, the state government should have developed a better recovery initiative that would have allowed them to get more per capita funds to help those affected by the hurricane.

BP Oil Spill 

On the 20 th of April 2010, one of BP's Deep-water Horizon oil rig exploded. It resulted in the worst environmental disaster in the nation’s history and resulted in the death of eleven rig employees. Methane gas and oil spewed for 87 days from an uncapped wellhead (“Case Study: BP Oil Spill ," n.d.). BP did not handle the situation well because they blamed their contractors. Their poor crisis management made the organization appear callous and arrogant. This case highlights the need to employ ethical principles in crisis communication to preserve brand image throughout a crisis.

Organizations facing disasters can limit information presented to the public following ethical procedures. The ethics of withholding information during a disaster highlight how organizations can ethically restrict information made available to the public to avoid unnecessary panic ("Ethics of Withholding Information," n.d.). This would help companies deal with disasters in a better and more subtle way. Companies can also withhold information if the information also poses a significant threat to national security or if it interferes with ongoing investigations. In the event of an environmental disaster, organizations have a moral obligation to intervene in the situation to mitigate the impact of the disaster. Most cases of ethical responsibility for the outcome of environmental disaster can be attributed to unintended side-effects of our omissions or actions or culpable negligence (Dranseika, 2016). Organizations can, therefore, intervene in environmental disasters.

References

“ Case Study: BP Oil Spill. ” (n.d.). The Arthur W. Page Center: Public Relations Ethics, https://pagecentertraining.psu.edu/public-relations-ethics/ethics-in-crisis-management/lesson-1-prominent-ethical-issues-in-crisis-situations/case-study-tbd/

“ Ethics of Withholding Information. ” (n.d.). The Arthur W. Page Center: Public Relations Ethics, https://pagecentertraining.psu.edu/public-relations-ethics/ethics-in-crisis-management/lesson-2-access-to-information-during-a-crisis/ethics-of-withholding-information/

Dranseika, V. (2016). Moral Responsibility for Natural Disasters . Human Affairs, 26(1), 73-79.

Jurkiewicz, C. L. (2007). Louisiana’s Ethical Culture and Its Effect on the Administrative Failures Following Katrina . Public Administration Review, 67, 57-63.

Moynihan, D. P. (2009). The Response to Hurricane Katrina . International Risk Governance Council, 1-11.