PYONGYANG: Severe flooding in North Korea has killed at least 76 people with another 75 missing, many of them children, the Red Cross said Thursday. Thousands of people have been left homeless after heavy rains triggered floods and landslides, toppling more than 800 buildings including houses, clinics and schools in North and South Hwanghae provinces, leaving Red Cross volunteers scrambling to find survivors. “Thousands have lost their homes and are in urgent need of health services, shelter, food, safe drinking water and sanitation,” said John Fleming of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies North Korea country office. </s> Severe flooding in North Korea has killed at least 76 people with another 75 missing, many of them children, the Red Cross said Thursday.

Thousands of people have been left homeless after heavy rains triggered floods and landslides, toppling more than 800 buildings including houses, clinics and schools in North and South Hwanghae provinces, leaving Red Cross volunteers scrambling to find survivors.

“Thousands have lost their homes and are in urgent need of health services, shelter, food, safe drinking water and sanitation,” said John Fleming of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies North Korea country office.

“With the cold season around the corner, we are also concerned this disaster will increase the risk of health problems and food insecurity for some communities.”

Impoverished North Korea is vulnerable to natural disasters. More than 130 people died after floods struck North Hamgyong province in 2016, bringing down buildings and leaving hundreds of thousands in urgent need of food and shelter.

The country’s territory is largely composed of mountains and hills that have long been stripped bare for fuel or turned into terraced rice fields, allowing rainwater to flow downhill unchecked.

A series of floods and droughts was partially responsible for a famine that killed hundreds of thousands between 1994-98, with economic mismanagement and the loss of Soviet support exacerbating the situation. </s> SEOUL: Severe flooding in a North Korean border region has killed at least 133 people with another 395 missing and thousands of homes swept away, the UN says, after Pyongyang reported “great hardship” in the area.

Some 107,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in the area along the Tumen River, the world body said in a statement received Monday which cited Pyongyang government figures.

The North’s official media has described the downpour which led to the floods near the northeastern border as the worst for decades, and said it brought severe hardship to residents.

It says a nationwide mass-mobilisation 200-day labour campaign intended to bolster the economy has been redirected to assist the flood victims.

The impoverished nation is vulnerable to natural disasters, especially floods, due partly to deforestation and poor infrastructure.

At least 169 people were killed by a massive rainstorm in the summer of 2012. </s> Yet severe flooding in the country's northeast has resulted in a rare admission that all is not so well.

According to a report published Sunday by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) -- North Korea's official state media -- the country's northeast has been affected by the "heaviest downpour" since 1945, with "tens of thousands" of buildings destroyed and people left homeless and "suffering from great hardship."

Citing North Korean government data, the report described how heavy rains resulting from Typhoon Lionrock had triggered flooding in areas such as Musan and Yonsa counties and Hoeryong City in North Hamgyong province. So far, 133 people have been killed, 395 people are missing and 140,000 people are in "urgent need of assistance." </s> North Korea floods a 'major, complex disaster', Red Cross says

Updated

North Korea is experiencing a "major and complex disaster", according to the Red Cross, after floods killed scores of people and left more than 100,000 homeless and in need of urgent help.

The charity said rescue workers were struggling to reach stricken communities in the country's far north, where thousands have been left homeless and the risk of disease is looming.

"From what we saw, it is clear that this is a very major and complex disaster," head of the Pyongyang office of the International Federation of the Red Cross, Chris Staines, said after visiting the affected areas.

At least 133 people are known to have died after torrential rains triggered massive floods that tore through villages, devastating entire communities and washing away buildings.

Hundreds more are missing and 140,000 people are in urgent need of food and shelter.

"The floods came through with such force they destroyed everything in their path," Mr Staines said.

"People were salvaging whatever possessions they could from piles of debris that used to be their homes."

Some 24,000 houses have been totally destroyed and thousands more damaged, with the full extent of the disaster still emerging as rescue workers battle to reach areas that have been totally cut off, the Red Cross said.

Mr Staines said there was barely a building left unscathed in some villages they had visited on the outskirts of Hoeryong City, which lies on the Tumen River on North Korea's border with China.

"People displaced from the floods are now in a very difficult situation and there are real risks of secondary disasters, particularly relating to people's health," Mr Staines added.

At least 100,000 people in Hoeryong City do not have safe drinking water, with up to 600,000 people in the affected area facing disruptions to their water supply, the Red Cross said.

The disaster is set to worsen North Korea's already chronic food shortages, with about 40,000 hectares of farmland inundated just weeks before the local maize and rice crops were due to be harvested.

"Their loss is another disaster that will be felt in the coming weeks and months," the Red Cross warned.

The impoverished nation is vulnerable to natural disasters, especially floods, due partly to deforestation and poor infrastructure.

At least 169 people were killed by a massive rainstorm in the summer of 2012.

Major state resources are swallowed up by a missile and nuclear weapons programme Pyongyang says is essential to deter US aggression.

AFP

Topics: korea-democratic-peoples-republic-of

First posted </s> Severe flooding in two provinces of North Korea has killed 76 people in recent days, the International Federation of of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said on Thursday. Around 75 people are missing, including many children, the non-profit organisation said.

Recent heavy rains have caused major floods and landslides in low-lying areas of North and South Hwanghae provinces, destroying more than 800 buildings including homes, clinics and schools, the organisation said. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Red Cross Society has provided blankets, hygiene kits, first aid and transport to nearby hospitals. It has also installed mobile water treatment plants.

“Thousands have lost their homes and are in urgent need of health services, shelter, food, safe drinking water and sanitation,” John Fleming, from the North Korea office of the International Federation of of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said. “With the cold season around the corner, we are also concerned this disaster will increase the risk of health problems and food insecurity for some communities.” </s> SEOUL, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Flooding from heavy rain in North Korea has killed 133 people in its northeast while 395 are missing, with many homes and critical infrastructure destroyed, a U.N. agency said on Monday.

News of the natural disaster came as North Korea looked even more isolated from its neighbours and the wider world after its fifth nuclear test last Friday.

The U.N. Office for the Coordinate of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a report more than 35,500 homes were damaged, two-thirds of them completely destroyed, and 107,000 people had been displaced by the floods.

The agency said the death toll and the number of missing people were based on North Korean government data.

North Korea's state media reported heavy rain in late August and early September caused extensive damage near the Tumen river. It did not give a death toll from the flooding in its latest report.

The U.N. office said damage assessment was based on a visit to the region last week by representatives of U.N. agencies, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the North's Red Cross chapter and non-governmental groups.

The North's KCNA news agency said on Sunday the worst "climatic phenomenon" in more than 70 years hit the northern part of the country causing "huge losses," and recovery work was under way.

Widespread deforestation for fuel and farming makes the impoverished state prone to natural disasters, especially floods. </s> Flooding following heavy rain has killed 60 people and left over 44,000 homeless in North Korea, the United Nations said on Tuesday, after the country reported that a northeastern river suffered its worst-ever flood.

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Pyongyang said the Tumen river, which partially marks the border with China and Russia, experienced the biggest flood ever recorded due to a rainstorm that began four days earlier.

Nearby areas including Musan and Hoeryong were hard hit, with 60 dead and five percent of the population homeless, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement.

It cited data from the North’s government.

“Communication with and access to affected areas remains a challenge… immediate needs have been identified as emergency shelter, food, medication, water and sanitary items,” it said.

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Nearly 9,000 buildings were destroyed or damaged with 10,000 hectares (24,711 acres) of farmland flooded, it said, adding joint relief efforts involving the UN and the North were underway.

The North’s state media said Friday that 15 people were missing after over 17,000 houses were destroyed or damaged.

The impoverished nation is vulnerable to natural disasters, especially floods. At least 169 were killed by a massive rainstorm in the summer of 2012.

Its territory is largely composed of mountains and hills that have long been deforested for fuel or turned into terraced rice fields. This allows rainwater to flow downhill unchecked.

A series of floods and droughts was partially responsible for a famine that killed hundreds of thousands between 1994-98, with economic mismanagement and the loss of Soviet support exacerbating the situation. </s> SEOUL (AFP) - The death toll from severe flooding in the north-east of North Korea has risen to 133, with another 395 missing and tens of thousands left homeless, the United Nations said.

Some 107,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in the area along the Tumen River, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement received on Monday (Sept 12), citing Pyongyang government figures.

People in the north-eastern region near the border with China and Russia are suffering "great hardship", according to North Korean state media.

A nationwide mass-mobilisation 200-day labour campaign intended to bolster the economy has been redirected to assist the flood victims.

More than 35,500 houses have been hit by floods, with 69 percent of them completely destroyed, and 8,700 public buildings have been damaged, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement dated Sunday.

Around 16,000ha of farmland have been inundated and at least 140,000 people urgently need help, it said.

OCHA said a group made up of UN agencies, international non-governmental organisations, the international Red Cross and the North's Red Cross had visited parts of the flood-stricken region last week to assess needs.

It said aid agencies have released material from stockpiles in the North such as food, shelter and kitchen kits and water purification and health supplies.

The North's government was working urgently to reopen roads and was distributing relief goods and building materials. The priority was to rebuild 20,000 homes by early October before the bitter Korean winter sets in.

The North has trumpeted the role of its ruling Workers' Party in responding to the disaster in North Hamgyong province.

The aim is "to turn the area into the fairyland in the era of the Workers' Party within this year by dint of army-people great unity, harmonious whole", said party newspaper Rodong Sinmun on Monday.

"The party regards the work for taking care of the people's life in a responsible way as the most important affair and duty and has steadily created legendary stories about love for the people," it added.

Impoverished North Korea is vulnerable to natural disasters, especially floods. At least 169 people were killed by a massive rainstorm in the summer of 2012.

Its territory is largely composed of mountains and hills that have long been stripped bare for fuel or turned into terraced rice fields. This allows rainwater to flow downhill unchecked.

A series of floods and droughts was partially responsible for a famine that killed hundreds of thousands between 1994 and 1998, with economic mismanagement and the loss of Soviet support exacerbating the situation.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization said in April that North Korea's chronic food shortages were expected to worsen, given the tight food supplies last year and this year when "most households were already estimated to have poor or borderline food consumption levels".

The United Nations Security Council is planning fresh sanctions on the nation after it staged its fifth nuclear weapons test on Friday.
The United Nations estimates that the death toll from severe flooding in North Korea reaches 133 with another 395 missing and tens of thousands homeless.