Floods in North Korea triggered by torrential rain late last month killed 30 people and destroyed more than 6,750 houses, state media said on Friday. More than 15,800 people were left homeless by the floods which also inundated more than 48,000 hectares (120,000 acres) of farmland, "seriously affecting this year's grain output," the Korean Central News Agency said.
It said 350 factories and public buildings also collapsed in the heavy rain and floods. Landslides damaged railway lines and bridges, hampering efforts to deliver relief supplies to the affected areas, KCNA said. The latest disaster comes after the agency on Monday said a tropical storm and heavy rain over the past two months had left dozens dead, injured or missing and destroyed 2,900 homes.
From late June to mid-July, nearly 60,000 hectares of farmland was submerged or washed away, it said. North Korea has relied heavily on international aid to feed its 24 million people since natural disasters and mismanagement devastated its economy in the mid 1990s. Pyongyang has stepped up appeals for food aid this year.
After decades of deforestation to create land for arable farming and provide firewood, the impoverished communist state is particularly vulnerable to flooding. In 2007 it reported at least 600 dead or missing after it was hit by devastating downpours.
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