A lot of rain fell in North Korea this weekend. It was so much rain that it broke the record. Big floods were caused by the rain that had left thousands of people stuck. According to North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, it is an “emergency.”
Pictures Showing the Damage
Government newspaper photos showed the flooding. In the photos, you see farms and houses underwater. This happened at places called Sinuiju City and Uiju County next to China.
Their news said the planes saved a lot of people. They said more than 4,200 people had to leave their homes. More than 10 planes went back and forth about 20 times to save people. But we must double-check everything above because it was from North Korea, very hard to check it.
North Korea has enough problems, such as not enough food and old buildings that need fixing. These floods will likely make them worse.
Climate Change Makes Floods Worse
Scientists say climate change is creating natural disasters such as floods more frequently and worse. A warming Earth alters weather patterns. This can create more heavy rainfall in some locations, including North Korea. Warmer air can hold more water, so when it rains, it pours. These, in turn, make the floods bigger and more dangerous. So for a country like North Korea with pre-existing flooding issues, climatic change might serve to worsen its case in the future.
Leader Kim Goes to View the Floods
A strange thing happened: Kim Jong Un went on a personal viewing of the floods. Photos described him riding in a fancy black vehicle through the water. According to some expert, Gordon Kang, this is new, since other leaders usually would deal with disasters.
The news in North Korea reported Kim as “personally leading the fight” against the floods. He said that some areas are now “special disaster emergency zones.” That means they will get extra help.
Why is Kim Doing This?
Gordon Kang says he thinks that Kim is trying to show that he can feed his people. He added that North Korea can do more now in terms of help because they enjoy better relations with China and Russia, which gives them more resources.
Floods are a common occurrence in North Korea. They happen annually with heavy rainfalls. The floods are worse because many trees have been cut down on hills and mountains.
Floods Hurt Farming
People worry that these floods will make it hard for North Korea to grow food. North Korea doesn’t have much farmland because there are lots of mountains.
North Korea is among the poorest nations in the world. Estimates for 2015 indicated that every person had only $1,700 per year in earnings. Showing this is quite hard because North Korea does not give away a lot of information about its money.
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