Red Cross admits shortcomings after Perth-Andover flood

The Canadian Red Cross said it could have done a better job communicating with residents in Perth-Andover during a flood in March.

The organization held an accountability session with the village Thursday night and another in Fredericton Friday morning.

The area was flooded in March causing a state of emergency. Many homes and businesses were damaged, along with the local hospital and high school.

Bill Lawlor, the director of disaster management for the Red Cross in New Brunswick, said some elderly flood victims were staying in hotels and didn't get the information they needed in the flood aftermath.

"In some cases there wasn't even a radio in their room and they were getting information, in some cases, from other members of the community and it wasn't accurate. So we want to make sure that we can avoid that in the future," he said.

Earlier this month, residents in Perth-Andover expressed mixed feelings about recent compensation cheques for flood damages.

Despite the communication problems Lawlor said he's proud of the organization's fundraising efforts.

The Red Cross said it raised close to $230,000 for Perth-Andover residents.

"We know that this is not over for them. While our operations are winding down, we know that the municipality and residents certainly have a longer road ahead in terms of their own recovery. But from a Red Cross perspective, it's pretty hard, albeit, I'm a little biased, to not be proud of the team," said Lawlor.

"We had some great staff and volunteers up there who really, really showed some compassion and we able to steer those contributions to where they were needed most."

At Wednesday's session Lawlor said the money was spent on household goods, utility bills and fuel bills for people who were displaced from their homes.

Money also went towards replacing personal and health care devices damaged in the flood.