Emergency Food Sent to Flooded North Korea

At least 88 dead, more than 60,000 homeless.

The World Food Program is dispatching emergency help to North Korea after devastating flooding that has killed scores of people and left nearly 63,000 homeless. The emergency aid will provide flood victims with 400 grams of maize per day for two weeks, the United Nations agency said.

North Korean state media reported this week that 4,000 homes were submerged from the torrential rain that hit the country in recent weeks. Televised reports showed North Koreans paddling boats to reach people stranded on roofs and streets as vast muddy rivers.

At least 88 people died, according to official government figures. The United Nations found that many hospitals were damaged and inaccessible, wells had been sullied by overflowing latrines, and fields of rice, soy and maize were damaged.