Brushing Off Criticism, Red Cross Shifts To New Phase in Sandy Recovery

After pulling in a hefty $188 million in donations to aid victims of Superstorm Sandy, the Red Cross still has some $78 million in the bank even as communities continue to cope with the storm's devastation. The unspent money, raised specifically in response to Sandy, has reignited questions about the Red Cross's initial response to the storm and how it will distribute the remaining funds.

The $78 million may seem like a drop in the bucket compared with what the U.S. government will eventually spend to mitigate the effects of the storm, which displaced tens of thousands of people when it tore through the East Coast in late October. President Barack Obama has asked Congress to approve a $60.4 billion emergency spending bill, which falls far short of the $82 billion in Sandy damage that's been estimated by the governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
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