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Charities Unprepared for Major Disaster, GAO Says
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The report also says that recent budget cuts and layoffs at the Red Cross's Washington headquarters could hinder the agency's ability to respond to disasters.
Red Cross officials said the layoffs should not affect disaster services.
Still, said Gregg O'Ryon, a vice president for Red Cross disaster services, "catastrophic events are, by definition, larger than any single agency."
Diana Rothe-Smith, executive director of the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters, defended relief groups. "I wouldn't say that they are ill-equipped at all," she said. "But I would say that no one organization can carry the weight. It does require a collective effort."
After their botched response to Katrina, FEMA, the Red Cross and others were widely criticized for poor coordination of relief efforts. Since then, FEMA has labored to strengthen its ties to the Red Cross and smaller, volunteer-based relief groups mentioned in the GAO report, including the Salvation Army, the Southern Baptist Convention and Catholic Charities USA.
Paul C. Light, a professor at New York University who tracks the Red Cross, said he thinks Congress and the agency should negotiate a long-term plan to use public money to help the charity modernize.
"A stronger infrastructure, supported by federal dollars, would help the Red Cross reassure donors that it will spend their contributions entirely on the catastrophe at hand," Light said.
Staff writer Spencer S. Hsu contributed to this report.
