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Damage by Flood Increased in DPRK

Korean Central News Agency of DPRK via Korea News Service (KNS)

   Pyongyang, August 16 (KCNA) -- Flood-damage is further increasing in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
    The continued heavy rainfalls across the country have done a huge damage to people's living and the national economy.
    As of August 14, more than 46,580 houses for over 88,400 families have been destroyed totally or partially and flooded in Pyongyang, North and South Hwanghae provinces, North and South Phyongan provinces and Kangwon and South Hamgyong provinces, leaving over 300,000 flood-victims.
    More than 11 percent of paddy and dry fields throughout the country were inundated, buried or washed away, some 55,000 square meters of railway roadbeds were carried away and over 400 industrial establishments were submerged under water.
    In Pyongyang, the water level of the Taedong and Pothong Rivers went up highest since 1967, submerging Panwol and Turu Islets and some areas of Pothonggang, Phyongchon and Songyo districts, paralyzing the traffics and inundating, washing away or burying over 8,200 hectares of paddy and dry fields. The precipitations in North Hwanghae and South Phyongan provinces in seven days were nearly equivalent to the annual ones. The torrential rains destroyed totally or partially and submerged some 25,000 dwelling houses and washed away 63,000 hectares of paddy and dry fields. And they destroyed railways, roads, bridges and river banks and cut electric power and communication networks, thus causing huge amount of material losses.
    In Kangwon Province, several thousand hectares of farm land were carried away and more than 27,700 dwelling houses were wrecked or inundated.
    In South Hwanghae Province, a granary on the west coast, the heavy rainfalls coupled with strong wind did damage to at least 20,000 hectares of farm land and destroyed dwelling houses and public buildings.
    Over twenty coal mines across the country including the coal mines in the Kaechon area were flooded. Some 60 pits were collapsed or inundated and 70 cutting faces and 400 facilities were under water in Jungsan, Unpha, Sudong and other mines.
    In the field of railway transportation, over hundred sections of railway roadbeds were cut, 280 meter-long railway bridge beams were destroyed, three tunnels were flooded and 49 sections of railroad were buried by 14,300 cubic meters of earth triggered off by landslides. The disaster has suspended railway transportation.
    Flood damage is now under investigation.