The terms hurricane and typhoon are regionally specific names for a strong tropical cyclone. These storms are referred to as tropical depressions when sustained winds are less than 39 miles-per-hour (mph) and are given a name as a tropical storm if sustained winds exceed gale force of 39 mph up to 74 mph. Hurricanes are tropical cyclones with sustained winds that exceed 74 mph, which circulate counterclockwise about their centers in the Northern Hemisphere. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through November 30 each year. On August 13, 2004, the third storm of the 2004 hurricane season, named Hurricane Charley, made U.S. landfall as a category 4 hurricane near Charlotte Harbor on the Gulf of Mexico side of the Florida peninsula with sustained winds of 150 mph. This hurricane was the strongest hurricane to hit the United States since the category 5 Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Hurricane Charley caused catastrophic wind damage across central Florida, with nine tornadoes reported on August 13 in association with the hurricane. As indicated in figure 1, the hurricane’s path moved northeast across central Florida, with the center passing near Orlando at 86 mph as it moved off the northeast coast near Daytona Beach and into the Atlantic Ocean. Charley then moved north along the South Carolina coast, making U.S. landfall again at North Myrtle Beach as a category 1 hurricane with sustained winds of 75 mph. The hurricane rapidly weakened to a tropical storm over North Carolina as it moved up the Atlantic coast. Hurricane Charley created rain, flooding, and seven tornadoes in North Carolina and Virginia, including category F1 tornado damage at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. On August 15, Charley merged with a frontal zone in southeastern Massachusetts that eventually moved into Canada. Hurricane Charley was cited in two federal disaster declarations for Florida and South Carolina. It was responsible for 33 U.S. deaths according to the Red Cross and 34 U.S. deaths according to NOAA’s National Climate Data Center (NCDC). The Property Claims Service and the Insurance Information Institute, both of which provide insurance damage information, estimated damage to insured property that averaged $7.2 billion and an equal amount for uninsured damages. With total damage estimated at about $15 billion, Charley became the third costliest hurricane in U.S. history through 2005. The sixth storm of the 2004 hurricane season, named Hurricane Frances, reached peak intensity as a category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 144 mph out in the Atlantic Ocean as it passed north of the U.S. Virgin Islands on August 31, 2004. Frances was downgraded to a category 2 hurricane with sustained winds of around 100 mph by the time it made U.S. landfall near Sewall’s Point, 35 miles north of West Palm Beach on the east coast of Florida on September 5. As indicated in figure 1, Frances moved northwest across central Florida and became a tropical storm as it moved into the Gulf of Mexico near New Port Richey, Florida, on September 6. Later that day it again made U.S. landfall on the Florida panhandle and moved west into eastern Alabama and western Georgia. It weakened to a tropical depression on September 7, and moved into West Virginia early on September 9. Hurricane Frances produced gale force winds as it briefly accelerated northeast across New York and into northern New England until dissipating over the Gulf of St. Lawrence on September 10. Frances caused widespread rains and flooding over much of the eastern United States and a total of 101 tornadoes were reported in association with this hurricane, with 56 occurring in the Carolinas on September 7. Hurricane Frances was cited in five federal disaster declarations for Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina. It was responsible for 45 U.S. deaths according to the Red Cross and 38 U.S. deaths according to NOAA/NCDC. The American Insurance Services Group, an insurance trade association, estimated damage to insured property at $4.43 billion and an equal amount for uninsured damages. With total damage estimated at $8.9 billion, Frances became the fifth costliest hurricane in U.S. history through 2005. The ninth storm of the 2004 hurricane season, named Hurricane Ivan, reached category 5 strength three times in the course of its journey across the Atlantic into the Gulf of Mexico, with sustained winds as high as 167 mph. From September 5 to 12, Ivan caused considerable property damage and loss of life primarily in Grenada and Jamaica as it passed through the Caribbean Sea. Ivan weakened to a category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of 121 mph when it made U.S. landfall just west of Gulf Shores, Alabama, on September 16. As indicated in figure 1, Ivan moved across central Alabama where it weakened to a tropical storm and moved northeast as far as the Delmarva Peninsula on September 18. However, even as a weak tropical storm, Ivan produced considerable rain and flooding, spawning 113 tornadoes across the southeastern United States, as depicted in figure 2. This included two category F2 tornadoes in Florida that resulted in five deaths, and 61 tornadoes reported on September 17. Ivan then ceased its northeast movement and over the next 3 days made a large loop and moved southwest along the eastern U.S. coast, crossing Florida back into the Gulf of Mexico on September 21. There Ivan completed its loop and became a tropical storm, making landfall in southwestern Louisiana on September 24. Later that day, it dissipated over the upper Texas coast after completing a storm track more than 5,600 miles long. Hurricane Ivan was cited in nine federal disaster declarations for Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. It was responsible for 63 U.S. deaths according to the Red Cross and 52 U.S. deaths according to NOAA/NCDC. The American Insurance Services Group estimated insured property damage at $7.1 billion and an equal amount for uninsured damages. With total damage estimated at $14.2 billion, Ivan became the fourth costliest hurricane in U.S. history through 2005. The 10th storm of the 2004 hurricane season, named Hurricane Jeanne, was a tropical storm as it moved over the U.S. Virgin Islands on September 14, 2004, and produced heavy rain over Puerto Rico on September 15, with sustained winds of 69 mph. Jeanne became a category 1 hurricane over the Dominican Republic with sustained winds of 81 mph that resulted in an estimated 3,000 deaths in Haiti from torrential rainfall, mudslides, and flooding on September 17. Jeanne made U.S. landfall at Port St. Lucie on the east coast of Florida, very near where hurricane Frances made U.S. landfall on September 5, as a category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of 121 mph on the morning of September 26. As indicated in figure 1, Jeanne moved westward across central Florida but quickly became a tropical storm by the time it reached Tampa. It further weakened to a tropical depression as it moved northward, dumping heavy rains across central Georgia and into the Carolinas, Virginia, and the Delmarva Peninsula. On September 29, Jeanne merged with a frontal zone that dissipated eastward into the Atlantic. Hurricane Jeanne was cited in five federal disaster declarations for the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Florida, Virginia, and Delaware. It was responsible for 13 U.S. deaths, according to the Red Cross, and 28 U.S. deaths, according to NOAA/NCDC. The American Insurance Services Group estimated damage to insured property at $3.44 billion and an equal amount for uninsured damages. With total damage estimated at $6.9 billion, Jeanne became the seventh costliest hurricane in U.S. history through 2005. The Red Cross activated its preparedness and disaster relief operations before hurricane Charley made landfall, and remained on the ground providing critical emergency services through the three subsequent hurricanes. The Red Cross stated that this effort, through the 2004 hurricane season, resulted in the largest hurricane relief operation in its 123-year history. From mid-August through mid-October 2004, the Red Cross reported that it had established over 1,800 shelters that housed almost 425,000 people displaced by the hurricanes, provided over 11 million meals and snacks to hurricane victims and emergency workers, and provided more than 149,000 comfort kits and 113,000 cleanup kits. The Red Cross stated that this effort involved over 35,000 workers, of whom 90 percent were volunteers, to set up shelters, provide transportation, support the sheltering and feeding effort, and distribute supplies. As required by statute and regulation, the Red Cross receives an annual audit of its consolidated financial statements, including a schedule of expenditures of federal awards. The Red Cross is required to have its activities, including a complete, itemized report of all receipts and expenditures, audited by the Secretary of Defense through the U.S. Army Audit Agency pursuant to 36 U.S.C. 300110; Department of Defense Directive 1330.5; and Army Regulation 930-5. The Red Cross is also subject to the audit requirements of the Single Audit Act and OMB Circular No. A- 133, Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations. The Red Cross contracted with an independent public accounting firm, KPMG, to conduct a financial audit of its consolidated financial statements, as well as an audit of its schedule of expenditures of federal awards, for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2005. To fulfill its audit responsibilities, avoid duplication and unnecessary expense, and make the most efficient use of available resources, the U.S. Army Audit Agency reviewed KPMG’s work and reports.