The American Red Cross has performed a great service to itself — and to future disaster victims — by openly and candidly acknowledging the problems that last year's hurricane disasters exposed.

The agency's stated determination to fix the problems outlined in an in-house report that studied its responses to last year's tragic weather events should be a source of comfort and confidence to those committed to continue supporting it.

It takes courage to admit that problems exist, but what the Red Cross has shown in response to the report has demonstrated a level of courage commensurate with what was needed to address the overwhelming challenges it faced in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma.

What was wrong within the agency's inner-workings was not apparent in the course of routine, everyday functions. However, those problems leaped to the forefront amid the necessities that the hurricanes put forth.

Underneath the major categories of problems that have been identified are specifics that paint a troubling picture.

For example, under the finding that the Red Cross lacked an effective, disaster-wide shelter database was the disclosure that the Red Cross could not be relied upon to provide timely verification that missing relatives were in its shelters.

Another example dealt with the issue of the Red Cross falling short in assisting some minority communities and other constituencies, such as the elderly and disabled. Some religious and civic groups complained that the Red Cross, although receiving the bulk of Katrina donations, shared little with them to address community needs.

Katrina has given the agency the opportunity to measure the full depth of its problems, unlike decades of disasters before it.

That is the silver lining amid the bad news contained in the report.

If and when there are future major emergencies, it will be a better Red Cross that will respond.

That was the message delivered by Jack McGuire, Red Cross interim president.

"We're going to do far and away a much better job this year if we have the same challenge as last year," he said.

Even if the unexpected occurs, the Red Cross will have a foundation in place to implement a better response, based on what it has learned from Katrinia and the other 2005 disasters.

Such a statement could not be so confidently made if Red Cross officials had downplayed the significance of the troubling information that the report in question contains.