Seoul: Floods caused by torrential rain have
washed away homes, roads, railways and farmland in North
Korea, state media said today, without giving a casualty toll.
"Water damage restoration work is underway in... areas
struck by continuing torrential rain," the official Korean
Central News Agency (KCNA) reported, adding authorities were
holding emergency meetings on aid for those affected.
The agency said work was underway to rebuild flood-hit
homes, public buildings, bridges and roads.
Workers in the eastern province of South Hamkyong have
restored all 110 irrigation channels that were destroyed, it
said.
Work was also underway in the northwestern province of
North Pyongan, next to the border with China, and in Hwanghae
province in the southwest.
Railways and telephone lines in Jagang province to the
east of North Pyongan have been restored, it said.
The report did not say exactly when the floods hit the
impoverished nation, which even in normal times suffers severe
food shortages.
Last Thursday KCNA reported widespread flood damage
following torrential rain in July. Some 5,560 houses were
destroyed along with 360 public buildings and factories, it
said.
There were also fatalities, KCNA said without
elaborating.
Some 14,850 hectares (36,700 acres) of farmland were
"submerged, buried or washed away", the agency said Thursday.
The North suffers frequent floods during the rainy season
due to deforestation of hillsides for firewood or agriculture
and a lack of flood control measures.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, August 08, 2010, 14:49