. | . |
North Korea asks UN agency to help with "massive" floods Geneva Aug 14, 2007 North Korea has asked the UN's food relief agency for help in the wake of "massive" floods, a spokesman for the World Food Programme said Tuesday. North Korean authorities said the floods are worse than those that reportedly left hundreds dead or missing and tens of thousands homeless in central and southern regions last year, WFP spokesman Simon Pluess told AFP. "Pyongyang has made a preliminary request for the WFP's assistance," Pluess said. "The floods are apparently massive, with a greater impact than those that occurred last year," he added. The WFP was unable to give any figures on the scale of the latest flooding. A United Nations assessment team is to travel from the North Korean capital Pyongyang to the stricken areas in the next day or so, Pluess said. North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) has said that downpours since August 7 had caused "huge human and material damage." As of August 12 they had had left hundreds of people dead or missing and destroyed more than 30,000 houses for over 63,300 families, it added. State television has shown flooded streets in Pyongyang. The UN's humanitarian coordination office (OCHA) in Geneva said it had not received any official information on the scale of the floods in North Korea or on any aid needs. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters When the Earth Quakes A world of storm and tempest
Northern Indonesian volcano spews smoke, heat clouds Jakarta (AFP) Aug 14, 2007 A volcano on Indonesia's Sulawesi island spewed smoke into the sky and spat heat clouds down its slopes Tuesday, but no evacuation of people in its surrounds was needed, an official said. |
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2007 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |