Charities - we depend on them in times of disaster, but a government report suggests some of the country's largest charities might not be ready to handle "the big one".
Charities are on the ground in Texas and Louisiana helping hurricane victims.
How much could they do in a larger catastrophe? If a nuclear blast rocked Washington D.C. an estimated 150,000 people would need shelter but the Red Cross could only house one third. An earthquake in Los Angeles could displace 313,000, but the Red Cross has shelter for only 84,000.
In a new report, the Government Accountability Office looked at the
capabilities of the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the Southern Baptist Convention and other charities and concluded " A worst-case large-scale disaster would overwhelm voluntary organizations current sheltering and feeding capabilities."
Cindy Fagnon of the GAO says, "For a really catastrophic kind of indicent no one entity alone could handle
this and that reinforces the need to have really good collaboration across all sectors... public, private government."
After Katrina, the Red Cross tripled it's number of volunteers, expanded it's ability to serve meals and upgraded it's communication systems. Those resources are being put to work right now in the aftermath of hurricane Ike. But money is an issue. The Red Cross estimates it could spend 130 million dollars this year on hurricane relief, but it's hurricane fund has collected only 19 million dollars in contributions, a situation so dire it is asking Congress for 150 million dollars.
Ealier this year, budget problems forced the Red Cross to lay off a thousand workers. The GAO says those cuts could hinder the charity's ability to respond to a catastrophe....but the Red Cross says it will not.
Suzy DeFrancis of the American Red Cross says, " We were very careful not to cut the kinds of services that the american red
cross provides... Feeding sheltering, providing emotional support and
assistance."
The GAO criticizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency for not doing more to assess the capabilities of volunteer groups and make their resposibilities crystal clear. FEMA had no comment.