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Red Cross says it will do better this year

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published June 28, 2006

NEW YORK - Overwhelmed volunteers, inflexible attitudes and inadequate antifraud measures are among the many shortcomings acknowledged by the American Red Cross in a candid and comprehensive new report assessing its response to Hurricane Katrina.

The in-house report stresses that the organization is intent on correcting the problems. Several steps have been taken for the start of the 2006 hurricane season; other reviews, addressing financial policies and how the Red Cross governs itself, are in progress.

"Some of the things we did this year were by brute force," Red Cross interim president Jack McGuire said. "We're going to do far and away a much better job this year if we have the same challenge as last year. What worries me is if we have something totally new and unexpected."

Katrina, along with Hurricanes Rita and Wilma, tested the Red Cross last year as never before. It mobilized 245,000 relief workers, provided $1.5-billion in financial aid to more than 4-million people, and accommodated nearly 500,000 survivors in shelters.

The report praises the volunteers' work, but offers a detailed look at weaknesses exposed by the hurricane onslaught. Among them:

- The Red Cross logistics system wasn't able to expand rapidly enough to meet demand.

- Many would-be volunteers were turned away or put on waiting lists.

- The Red Cross fell short in assisting some minority communities and other constituencies, such as the elderly and disabled.

- A debit card program used for many of the cases proved hard to monitor, and call centers failed to identify some bogus claimants.

[Last modified June 28, 2006, 02:20:43]