North Korean Flooding by Nina Ridge
Hundreds of people are dead or missing in North Korea following a week of torrential rain which has destroyed thousands of homes and damaged the transport infrastructure.
Flash floods swept away more than 30,000 homes, displaced around 63,000 families and cut off roads and railways in the capital, Pyongyang. Officials claim that more than 540 bridges have been destroyed by the floods and thousands of hectares of farmland have been buried under silt and washed away. Among the worst hit areas were the southern provinces of Kangwon and North Hwanghae which border South Korea and South Hamgyong in the east.
The North Korean Meteorological Agency recorded as much as 672mm (27 inches) of rain in some of the worst hit areas from 7th of August to the 12th.
Although this amount of rainfall is not unusual, North Korea frequently suffers from flooding during the summer monsoon season. In July 2006, severe flooding left over 500 people dead.
Although the worst of the heavy rain is over, many parts of North Korea can still expect some further outbreaks of rain over the coming few days.
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