the redcross does a lot of good, however, this was not one of their finer moments. siting a change to fema maps, redcross emergency services stayed out of south texas' hidalgo county until after hurricane dolly had passed.

The Red Cross blames the delay on a bureaucratic rule change. Historically, the Red Cross had always managed Hidalgo County’s emergency shelters. (In 2005, during Hurricane Emily, the agency ran 13 emergency shelters housing 6,000 evacuees.) In 2007, the Federal Emergency Management Agency designated a majority of the county a flood zone because of its badly deteriorated levees. This triggered a national Red Cross policy that prevents the organization from providing emergency services until hurricanes, and the danger of flooding, have subsided.

texas observer: the low road to higher ground

Labels: hidalgo county, illustration, redcross, texas, texas observer