North Korea floods hit up to 300,000

Devastating floods in North Korea may have hit up to 300,000 people and will worsen food shortages in the impoverished state. The communist nation, one of the most reclusive in the world, has appealed for international aid to help it cope with what one relief group said are the worst floods in a decade.

Six provinces had been flooded, with the eastern provinces of South Hamgyong and Kangwon the worst hit. At least 800 public buildings, more than 540 bridges and sections of railway had been destroyed. More than 500 high-voltage power towers collapsed, five large substations were inundated and more than 10 transformers damaged.

With tens of thousands of hectares of farmland inundated, buried under silt and washed away. North Korea faced a food shortfall this year of one million tonnes, or 20 percent of its needs, even before the floods hit. The nation suffered a famine in the mid to late 1990s which killed hundreds of thousands.

North Korea frequently reports severe damage during Korea's rainy season. Experts say decades of reckless deforestation, for fuel or to clear hillsides for planting, have stripped it of tree cover. Deforestation is a critical factor (in flooding) and the government is aware of this.