It Was A Hurricane, What Did You Expect?
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Scavenged from various news articles and mashed together here for your reading pleasure.

WOODVILLE, Texas - Five days after Hurricane Rita came ashore, conditions remained primitive in parts of Texas, where some residents were taking baths and brushing their teeth using water from the Neches River and others were sleeping in tents.

The plywood sign outside the home in East Texas where eight Beaumont families had sought refuge from Hurricane Rita carried a simple message: "Help Needed. Ice and Water. 43 People.

FEMA spokesman Ross Fredenburg said communications between Austin and rural East Texas have been troubled, in part because of power problems. But he said FEMA had set up distribution points in 27 southeastern Texas cities.

"I don't know what could have been done better since the materials were in place before the hurricane," Fredenburg said. "We're doing everything we can to get water and ice to whomever remains."

It was a hurricane. Conditions will be primitive for a while yet. A Midwest thunderstorm can knock out power for hours or days. Just one tornado can rip up an entire town. Hurricanes spawn multiple tornadoes and do more damage than a dozen severe thunderstorms. There is no instant gratification in recovery.

NEW YORK - As its hurricane relief donations near the $1 billion mark, more than double all other charities combined, the
American Red Cross is encountering sharp criticism of its efforts and mounting pressure to share funds with smaller groups.

The Red Cross estimates it will need $2 billion to finance Katrina-related emergency services.

"This work is so immense — it's dangerous any time you have a single organization monopolizing relief services," said coalition leader LaTosha Brown. "The Red Cross needs to recognize its limitations and reach out by partnering with local agencies who have people on the ground."

Yet the executive director of the watchdog group Charity Navigator said such pleas to the Red Cross are unrealistic, and many reflect envy of its fund-raising prowess.

"The Red Cross raised the money fair and square by making a compelling case to the American public that they were the best organization to get these dollars," Trent Stamp said. "To come in after the fact and ask them to share the money — I can't think of anything more pie-in-the-sky and naive."

Some activists have contended that the Red Cross response, notably in the first few days after Katrina, provided better services in mostly white areas than mostly black areas. "For the first 72 hours, they did not do an equitable job of responding to all communities," said Joe Leonard of the Washington-based Black Leadership Forum.

Red Cross chief diversity officer Rick Pogue said this perception arose because the organization, though committed to serving all in need, had more trouble getting teams into some impoverished black areas early in the crisis than into more affluent areas. "The need was so great, we'd go first to the areas we could get to the easiest," Pogue said.

This was a very good article, covering a lot of viewpoints. I wish there were more journalists of DAVID CRARY's caliber. And let me just say... When my neighbor's home burned down, the Red Cross was there. When people need blood, the Red Cross is there. Wherever there are prisoners of war, the Red Cross is there. And when there's a hurricane, a tsunami, a flood, a drought, starvation, war, genocide, or an act of terrorism, the Red Cross is there. Don't bitch because they're getting the lion's share of donations. They do the lion's share of the work.
While the Red Cross is not perfect, they are able to get the job done in ways that smaller charities cannot.

On September 2, Peace Corps Director Gaddi Vasquez accepted a mission assignment from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide Crisis Corps Volunteers to support the emergency relief efforts in the Gulf Coast region.

Crisis Corps Volunteers are returned Peace Corps Volunteers who work on short-term projects, utilizing the skills they learned during their Peace Corps service and in post-service careers.

Neat, huh?


References
Conditions Primitive in Texas After Rita
Red Cross Criticized, Urged to Share Cash
Peace Corps' Response to Hurricane Katrina