North Korea says many dead in rains, typhoons

September 22, 2000
Web posted at: 6:48 PM HKT (1048 GMT)

PYONGYANG, North Korea (Reuters) -- Torrential rains and a typhoon that swept across North Korea this month have killed many people, triggered landslides and destroyed tens of thousands of homes, the official Korean Central News Agency said on Friday.

The storms destroyed or damaged some 125,000 homes, of which 29,000 were completely demolished or swept away, with the damage estimated at more than $6.0 billion, the state news agency said.

Many people were killed or injured, it said, but gave no figures.

The Geneva-based International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said this week the damage caused by the heavy rains brought on by two typhoons in mid-September and at end-August was reported to be the worst in 30 years.

It appealed on Tuesday for $530,000 in emergency funds for 10,000 North Koreans left homeless by the flash floods and storms, calling the destruction in the reclusive country "beyond belief."

The IFRC said more than 40 people had been killed and warned that the approaching winter threatened the thousands of North Koreans driven from their homes.

North Korea's KCNA said vast areas along its east and west coasts had been hit by the rains, with seven provinces affected. It said traffic in the eastern Kangwon region and in southern Hamgyong province had been cut for days.

"A regional torrential rain and typhoon in September in particular claimed human lives and inflicted enormous disasters upon different sectors," it said.

The rains severed roads and railways, destroyed 1,930 bridges and cut off traffic for days, said KCNA, monitored in Tokyo. Landslides buried railways and roads, it said.

In addition, tens of thousands of hectares of crops were washed away or damaged, it said, giving the first assessment of crop damage in the hermit state that has been hit repeatedly in recent years by food shortages.

North Korea has suffered several natural disasters in recent years, and a U.S. congressional report estimated that up to two million North Koreans have died of malnutrition and related diseases since 1995.

In July, KCNA reported that its crop production fell drastically due to droughts after heat raised the temperature of water in rice paddies above 40 degrees in some areas along the western coast, including the leading rice-growing area of North Hwanghae-do, causing the roots of rice plants to rot.

In June, another serious drought caused reservoirs and rivers to dry up.

Last week, the Rome-based World Food Programme (WFP), the leading aid organization operating in the Stalinist state, said it needed $100 million to buy 194,876 tonnes of food over the next four months to feed the most vulnerable North Koreans -- children, pregnant women and the elderly.

South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, who arrived in Japan on Friday for a three-day visit, is expected to urge Japan to provide financial aid to the disaster-struck state to help to facilitate the growing detente between North and South.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For more ASIANOW news, myCNN.com will bring you news from the areas and subjects you select.

See related sites about Asia
Asian media sites

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.