An estimated 60 000 North Koreans were left homeless and 30 000 hectares of farmland destroyed in recent flooding, according to a report from a United Nations relief agency on Monday.
The United Nations World Food Programme said the worst-hit area last week was South Pyongan province in central North Korea.
”Approximately 75% of the estimated 60 000 persons made homeless/displaced due to the floods are located in South Pyongan province,” said a WFP report.
It said flooding of farmland caused the loss of 100 000 tonnes of food supplies, adding to a chronic food crisis in the communist country.
The WFP said it was preparing initial aid of about 74 tonnes of food to help 13 000 flood victims on Monday.
The agency said the Pyongyang government was still collecting damage reports.
”Overall, the updates indicate rising levels of damage,” the WFP said.
Pyongyang’s official media said on Friday ”hundreds of people” were dead or missing after floods and landslides caused by heavy rains destroyed tens of thousands of houses and buildings.
The rains, brought by a powerful typhoon that lashed the Korean peninsula on July 10, also damaged infrastructure and wrecked vast swathes of farmland.
The official Korean Central News Agency said 6 200 private houses and 490 public buildings were damaged or destroyed in South Pyongan Province.
Almost 10 000 families had their homes completely destroyed in three provinces nationwide, according to the agency.
North Korea has relied on outside help to feed its population of 23-million for years. – AFP
