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Published 30 Nov, -0001 12:00am

Floods in North Korea make 7,000 homeless, agency says

The October 21-23 storm was one of the strongest to hit the North so far this year but there were no reports of deaths because of a warning system, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said.
It hit parts of Kangwon province on the east coast, damaging or destroying 732 homes and flooding 366 others, according to the report.
The agency said it had released 640 relief kits containing water-purifying tablets, water containers and blankets for flood victims living in schools and other temporary shelters.
In July monsoon rains swept through much of the North, causing heavy human losses and property damage.
The federation said at the time that at least 100 people were dead or missing and more than 11,500 homes damaged or destroyed.
South Korea suspended regular aid shipments to its impoverished communist neighbour after the North's missile tests on July 5.
In August it announced a one-off 230 million dollar emergency aid package following the severe floods, but shipments were suspended after the North's shock October 9 nuclear test.
Experts say decades of reckless deforestation have stripped North Korea of tree cover that provides natural protection from catastrophic flooding, Energy-starved residents have used every scrap of wood from the countryside to cook food or heat homes through the bitter winters, leaving the country vulnerable to flooding and landslides on a massive scale.
Government officials have worsened the problem by encouraging residents to expand farmland into the hillsides in a bid to grow more food.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2006

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