PYONGYANG, Aug 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected flood damage in North Hwanghae province and ordered food and supplies to help affected residents, state news agency KCNA said Friday.
There have been days of heavy rain across parts of North Korea, which is vulnerable to flooding as many mountains and hills have long been stripped of vegetation, allowing water to flow downhill unchecked.
The area, south of Pyongyang, is a major agricultural region.
A levee gave way in Taechong-ri, in Unpha County, “leaving more than 730 single-floored houses and 600-odd hectares of rice field inundated and 179 blocks of dwelling houses destroyed,” KCNA said.
There were no casualties, according to KCNA, because residents had been evacuated.
Kim said it is “of priority importance to quickly supply” food, medicine and basic necessities to residents in the flood-affected region, KCNA said.
At least 138 North Koreans died after torrential rain triggered major floods in 2016, the United Nations said at the time.
More than 160 people were killed by a massive rainstorm in the summer of 2012. — NNN-AGENCIES
