600,000 people displaced by floods in North Korea, Red Cross says

Urgent humanitarian aid is needed ahead of the winter after the Red Cross revealed that at least 600,000 people in North Korea have been affected by heavy flooding that damaged or destroyed 30,000 homes.

“The disaster hit, in many ways, at probably the worst time,” said Chris Staines, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) delegation in North Korea.

The IFRC has been working with North Korea’s Red Cross Society to deliver aid to northeastern communities that suffered the worst of the flooding caused by heavy rains in late August.

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Staines said “urgent action” was needed before the first snowfall expected in late October when temperatures fall below freezing, and can reach minus 30 degrees Celsius (minus 22 Fahrenheit) in mid-winter.

“This is seriously harsh conditions and that’s why we need much more permanent solutions in terms of shelter, in terms of the health services and the access to food, and sorting out issues around safe water,” he said.

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