Charities Unprepared for Major Disaster, GAO Says

The American Red Cross and other disaster relief charities are unprepared to meet projected mass casualty needs during a natural catastrophe or terrorist attack in major U.S. cities such as Washington, New York, Los Angeles and Miami, a government report has found.

A large-scale disaster would "overwhelm" the Red Cross and other nonprofit organizations that have federal responsibilities for assisting the government in feeding and sheltering victims of natural disasters, concludes the analysis, which is to be released today by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office. ....