GENEVA (Reuters) - Severe flooding in North Korea has killed at least 76 people with nearly the same number missing and thousands left homeless by the destruction, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said on Thursday.

Volunteers from the national Red Cross are conducting search and rescue operations in North and South Hwanghae provinces, where heavy rains began on August 28, it said, adding that many children were among the 75 missing.

“Heavy rains in recent days triggered large-scale flooding and landslides in low-lying areas, destroying more than 800 buildings including homes, clinics and schools,” the Geneva-based Federation said in a statement.

The Red Cross Society of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), the country’s official name, was providing aid and deploying mobile water treatment plants, it said.

“Thousands have lost their homes and are in urgent need of health services, shelter, food, safe drinking water and sanitation,” said John Fleming of the Federation’s country office.

A month ago, the agency warned that a heat wave in North Korea had led to rice, maize and other crops withering in the fields, “with potentially catastrophic effects”, putting the country at risk of a “full-blown food security crisis”.

The drought-affected areas were South Hamgyong and South Pyongan provinces.

Drought and floods have long been a seasonal threat in North Korea, which lacks irrigation systems and other infrastructure to ward off natural disasters.

“Extreme weather events are occuring much more often,” Federation spokeswoman Laura Ngo-Fontaine said on Thursday.</s>Severe flooding in two provinces of North Korea has killed 76 people in recent days, the International Federation of of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said on Thursday. Around 75 people are missing, including many children, the non-profit organisation said.

Recent heavy rains have caused major floods and landslides in low-lying areas of North and South Hwanghae provinces, destroying more than 800 buildings including homes, clinics and schools, the organisation said. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Red Cross Society has provided blankets, hygiene kits, first aid and transport to nearby hospitals. It has also installed mobile water treatment plants.

“Thousands have lost their homes and are in urgent need of health services, shelter, food, safe drinking water and sanitation,” John Fleming, from the North Korea office of the International Federation of of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said. “With the cold season around the corner, we are also concerned this disaster will increase the risk of health problems and food insecurity for some communities.”</s>according to the UN. Kangwon province has also been affected according to other reports·UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a report (pdf) of 03 September.Several parts of the country recordedNK News reports that the overflowing Ryesong River has caused major flood damage in areas near Kaesong, a city in North Hwanghae Province.resulting in heavy flooding in Kangwon and South Hamgyong provinces from 24 August.Many schools and health facilities were destroyed or damaged. The water supply system of Munchon city was destroyed leaving tens of thousands of people without access to safe drinking water.</s>Severe flooding in North Korea has killed at least 76 people with another 75 missing, many of them children, the Red Cross said Thursday.

Thousands of people have been left homeless after heavy rains triggered floods and landslides, toppling more than 800 buildings including houses, clinics and schools in North and South Hwanghae provinces, leaving Red Cross volunteers scrambling to find survivors.

“Thousands have lost their homes and are in urgent need of health services, shelter, food, safe drinking water and sanitation,” said John Fleming of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies North Korea country office.

“With the cold season around the corner, we are also concerned this disaster will increase the risk of health problems and food insecurity for some communities.”

Impoverished North Korea is vulnerable to natural disasters. More than 130 people died after floods struck North Hamgyong province in 2016, bringing down buildings and leaving hundreds of thousands in urgent need of food and shelter.

The country’s territory is largely composed of mountains and hills that have long been stripped bare for fuel or turned into terraced rice fields, allowing rainwater to flow downhill unchecked.

A series of floods and droughts was partially responsible for a famine that killed hundreds of thousands between 1994-98, with economic mismanagement and the loss of Soviet support exacerbating the situation.</s>At least 76 people are dead and thousands more have been left homeless by flooding in North Korea following heavy rains that began last week, The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies announced on Thursday.“Thousands have lost their homes and are in urgent need of …Read more via Newsweek – https://ift.tt/2wRrLkG Get more World News</s>PYONGYANG: Severe flooding in North Korea has killed at least 76 people with another 75 missing, many of them children, the Red Cross said Thursday. Thousands of people have been left homeless after heavy rains triggered floods and landslides, toppling more than 800 buildings including houses, clinics and schools in North and South Hwanghae provinces, leaving Red Cross volunteers scrambling to find survivors. “Thousands have lost their homes and are in urgent need of health services, shelter, food, safe drinking water and sanitation,” said John Fleming of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies North Korea country office.</s>Thousands of people have been left homeless after heavy rains triggered floods and landslides, toppling more than 800 buildings including houses, clinics and schools in North and South Hwanghae provinces

Severe flooding in North Korea has killed at least 76 people with another 75 missing, many of them children, the Red Cross said. Thousands of people have been left homeless after heavy rains triggered floods and landslides, toppling more than 800 buildings including houses, clinics and schools in North and South Hwanghae provinces.

"Thousands have lost their homes and are in urgent need of health services, shelter, food, safe drinking water and sanitation," said John Fleming of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). "With the cold season around the corner, we are also concerned this disaster will increase the risk of health problems and food insecurity."

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever</s>Hanoi, Sep 5 (IANS) Flash floods and landslides caused by heavy rain in Vietnam’s northern and central regions since late last week have killed 15 people and left five missing, the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control said on Wednesday.

As of Wednesday, floods and landslides claimed nine lives and left three people missing in central Thanh Hoa province. Meanwhile, floods killed two people in northern Lang Son province, and one person in each of the four northern provinces of Hoa Binh, Yen Bai, Son La and Lai Chau, and left one person missing in Lai Chau and Yen Bai each, Xinhua news agency reported.

The floods and landslides also destroyed 382 houses, damaged 5,209 hectares of rice and other crops, and killed 2,400 cattle and over 1,02,400 fowls, said the committee.

Natural disasters, mostly typhoons, floods and landslides, killed or left missing 153 people and injured 119 others, and caused property losses of over 7,000 billion Vietnamese dong (304.3 million U.S. dollars) in the first eight months of this year, according to Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.</s>Floods will clean the Ganga before Kumbh, says Chetan Chauhan

The state of Uttar Pradesh is facing chaos due to floods after heavy rainfall. Watch video to know more:
Heavy floods in North Korea leave at least 76 dead and 75 missing.