Record downpours and flooding in North Korea have left more than 300 people dead or missing, an international aid group said Friday, as South Korea and the US pledged emergency relief assistance.
Terje Lysholm, acting delegation head of the International Red Cross in Pyongyang, said that the casualty toll appeared to be stabilizing and would likely end up around 300 for the total lives lost from the storms.
The number of casualties -- 221 deaths and 82 missing, compiled by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies -- is much higher than what the United Nations has reported. UN Assistant Secretary-General Margareta Wahlstrom said Thursday in New York that 83 people were killed and about 60 people missing. Terje Lysholm, acting delegation head of the International Red Cross in Pyongyang, said that the casualty toll appeared to be stabilizing and would likely end up around 300 for the total lives lost from the storms. There were a number of children among the dead, but he said no specific figures were available.
The floods also scarred more than 80,000 homes, affecting some 350,000 people, Lysholm said.
“We have difficulties accessing these areas because the roads are gone,” he said.
Still, the International Red Cross has been able to deliver emergency supplies including kitchen sets, blankets and water purification tablets to about 80 percent of the 16,000 hardest-hit families, and expects to complete distribution over the weekend.
The UN's World Food Program, meanwhile, was expected to send aid officials on a tour Friday of affected areas to coordinate international assistance, hoping to start emergency food aid using supplies already in the country as part of ongoing hunger relief efforts.
Earlier Friday, South Korea unveiled a $7.5 million emergency aid package.
“Considering the seriousness of human and property damage, the government decided to provide emergency relief on grounds of humanitarianism and brotherly love,” Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung told reporters.
Lee said the government would aim to start shipping the supplies early next week, which will include instant noodles, drinking water, blankets, medicine and other necessities.
Washington also pledged $100,000 to help flood victims.
The US Agency for International Development will give the money to two non-governmental organisations that will supply the North with relief goods such as blankets, shelter materials and water containers, the US Embassy in Seoul said in a statement.
The US had previously been a large source of aid to the North, but has recently scaled back donations after Pyongyang restricted monitoring of relief deliveries.
Germany-based aid group German Agro Action said it would spend $335,125 to provide emergency supplies for North Korean flood victims, with $201,075 of the funds to come from Germany's government.
The aid, which will include food, water sterilization tablets and cooking utensils, will benefit about 50,000 people, the group said in a statement dated Thursday.
The impoverished North has relied on outside handouts to feed its 23 million people since mismanagement and natural disasters devastated its economy in the mid-1990s.
The North has been unusually candid in giving information about the latest disaster, given the regime usually is extremely reluctant to reveal any signs of internal trouble to the outside world. That could possibly reflect the drastic nature of the situation but also show that the country is seeking to work more cooperatively with international agencies.
However, North Korea also has a history of overstating the effects of disasters to get aid.
On Friday, the country's official Korean Central News Agency carried a report on damage to the coal mine industry, saying that the rainstorms left about 144,000 tons of coal washed away, about 200 mines flooded and another 300 mines collapsed.
The downpours also flooded about 30 coal storage sites as well as hundreds of mining and related facilities, and cut off 63,900 yards of rails and roads used to transport coal, KCNA said.
Castries, St. Lucia, AP: Hurricane Dean tore through the eastern Caribbean islands of St. Lucia and Martinique on Friday, ripping roofs from buildings, downing trees and knocking out power. Airports were closed, coastal hotels were evacuated and tourists hunkered down in shelters as 100 mph winds swept over the islands. The Category 2 storm was headed to Jamaica and by next week, when it is projected to reach Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and Central America, it could strengthen into a dangerous Category 4 hurricane. The winds tore off the roof of the children's ward at Victoria Hospital in Castries, the capital of St. Lucia. The patients had been evacuated and no injuries were reported. St. Lucia state radio reported that flooding and wind-blown debris had turned the capital into "a total mess." Boulders that had been part of a sea wall were shoved onto roads by the force of storm surges. A boat also sat in the road, lifted off from the sea by the storm.
Radio and television advisories urged people to stock up on canned food and fill their cars with gasoline. Volunteers knocked on doors to make sure people knew about the storm.
