The South Hwanghae Province Party Committee recently held an emergency meeting to take action against damage caused by massive rains that hit the province several days ago, Daily NK has learned.
“The central authorities ordered [local authorities] in South Hwanghae Province that suffered damage from massive rains over the past several days to immediately take action, which led the party committee to hold the emergency meeting recently,” a source in the province told Daily NK yesterday, adding, “Efforts to take action are currently underway.”
Massive rains that hit the province recently have flooded farmland and shutdown many of the area’s telecommunications towers, roads and railways. Around 50 houses have become submerged or completely destroyed due to mountain slides, according to the source.
The province’s party committee reportedly decided during the emergency meeting to supply 17 kilograms of corn to each family that suffered damage from the rains. Officials also decided to immediately dispatch “construction storm trooper units” that had been working on construction projects in the province to the affected areas and work with local officials and residents to repair damaged houses and livestock-related facilities.
During the meeting, officials also placed a priority on mobilizing workers to repair main roads damaged by the rains, along with rural roads and railways, the source said.
“Most of the families in the province are suffering from food shortages, even though the province is the country’s breadbasket…[nonetheless] people have moved to repair what has been damaged in accordance with the party committee’s orders, despite their difficult personal situations,” the source said. “People are saying that the most difficult thing they have to do is dig smelly ditches [to divert water], along with digging latrines.”
The province’s party committee also informed locals that a “storm trooper unit” from the central government will arrive on Sept. 1 to help with repairing damaged houses, but that local citizens must play an active role in repairing structures damaged by the rains, said the source.
During the emergency meeting, officials called on farmers to place a priority on fixing ditches that have collapsed due to the heavy rains and to quickly remove excess water from farmland so that the province can have a “bumper crop” this year.
Farms in the province are reportedly putting farmers into teams of two to repair ditches and remove excess water from farmland. Farms have also organized 24-hour patrols that watch over farmland to prevent any further damage from (continued) rains.
Korean Central TV (KCTV) reported on Sunday that the southern regions of both Hwanghae provinces and other areas – including the mountainous areas of North Pyongan Province -had received more than 200 millimeters of rain.
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