DPR Korea: Flash Floods Preliminary Appeal No. 22/02 Operations Update No. 1

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Launched on 9 August, 2002 for CHF 903,000 (USD 599,935 or EUR 619,026) to assist 22,500 beneficiaries.
Period covered: 9 August to 9 September, 2002

IN BRIEF

Appeal coverage: 60.4%
Related Appeals: N/A
Outstanding needs: CHF 822,717

Summary: While the donor response has been timely and adequate, further support is needed to fully implement the intended objectives and activities.

The Situation

Torrential rains of up to 340 - 380 cm fell within 10 hours on August 5" and 6t'', 2002, primarily impacting the western parts of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). The high run-off volume combined with high winds and tides overwhelmed the embankments in coastal areas in Anjou City, while flash floods caused extensive damage to many houses, crops and infrastructure including roads, bridges, railways, public buildings, water, sewage and communication systems throughout areas of north and south Pyongan, and South Hwanghae provinces and Kaesong municipality.

Assessments of all the areas started immediately on August 5t'', with final assessments completed by August 14", as information from flood-rendered inaccessible areas continued to trickle through to the central authorities. The final report identified 24 deaths, with 5 persons still missing and presumed dead.

The Federation launched Preliminary Emergency Appeal no. 22/02 for CHF 903,000 on 9 August, seeking assistance for 22,500 beneficiaries in North and South Pyongan, and South Hwanghae provinces and Kaesong City area.

The Typhoon also hit the northern part of the Korean peninsula. The DPRK Red Cross and the Federation DP delegate are currently in Kangwon Province on the eastern coast of DPRK undertaking an assessment of affected areas. In the western province of South Pyongan the flash floods operation launched by the Red Cross in the first week of August continues.

Red Cross and Red Crescent Action

The Red Cross was the first organization to respond to initial reports, with assessment teams of the National Society and Federation staff in the field in Anju City within hours of the flooding, and again the next day in response to the Governments request for an international agency assessment. They have been the only agency to provide relief support to the affected by distributing pre-positioned relief items maintained in 3 warehouses in the region. The initial distribution to 1,799 of the worst affected families in and around Anju City was completed within 48 hours, and as further information and assessments accumulated, the transportation, distribution and monitoring of items for an additional 6,323 families throughout the affected areas was completed within 9 days.

Specifics of distribution: On 6 August, relief items were released from the DPRK Red Cross central DP warehouse in Pyongyang and distributed to 1,799 of the most severely affected families (8,634 people). The item included: 4,734 blankets; 407 kitchen sets; 2,206 water containers; 259,020 water purification tablets; 10 rolls of tarpaulins; 50 first aid kits and 2 hospital tents.

For the Anju City area

For the partly affected

For other areas

Further distributions took place as outlined below:

Immediate Needs

Additional relief items to complete the distribution to the above families include:

• water containers
• water purification tablets
• temporary shelter including one plastic sheeting for 4524 families each to provide protection, living and storage space, privacy and emotional security.

Water and Sanitation activities including the provision of two million water purification tablets and 4,524 collapsible containers as well as assisting local authority to repair drinking water feeding pipes.

Basic medical supplies including 300 first aid kits (for hospitals) and 300 first aid kits for (for FA posts) to provide adequate care for those in need.

Replacement stock for the distributed items is also being sought to have available as the typhoon season (September, October) approaches.

Coordination

In 1995, following severe flooding, the Government of DPRK for the first time appealed for international assistance. The Federation in cooperation with the DPRK Red Cross launched CHF 5 million appeal for the distribution of clothing, blankets, food and first aid kits to 130,000 men, women and children and to rebuild 1,900 houses. The emergency operation has since evolved from food aid and shelter to a programme focused on disaster preparedness and support to the health system through drug distributions, water and sanitation activities, health worker training and community based first aid. The 2002 annual budget is approximately CHF 12.4 million.

The Federation operational area currently covers three provinces and a municipal (North Phyongan, Chagang, South Phyongan, Kaesong Municipality), comprising 51 counties and 1,762 provincial, city and county, village level health institutions, with a catchment population of approximately 6 million. The federation delegation comprises nine international delegates including four health delegates, a disaster preparedness and relief delegate and a water and sanitation delegate.

As a result of its role in disaster response operations during the 1995 and 1996 floods and the 1997 drought, the DPRK Red Cross has been increasingly recognized by the Government and international agencies as a key player in disaster preparedness and response. A Memorandum of Understanding between the DPRK Red Cross and the Federation was signed in 2000. The document outlines the roles and responsibilities of DPRK Red Cross in disaster preparedness and response. In the same year, DPRK Red Cross and the Federation cooperated to provide relief assistance to 6,000 households affected by the typhoon that hit the eastern coast of DPRK. In 2001, the Federation with the DPRK Red Cross successfully implemented the flood relief operation in Kangwon Province by providing pre-positioned DP items with 2,700 homeless families. The strategic pre-stockpiling of relief items under the 1999 programme proved to be crucial in the implementation of the above operations.

Outstanding needs

While the donor response has been timely and adequate, further support is needed to fully implement the intended objectives and activities.

For further details please contact: Aurelia Balpe, Federation Desk Officer; phone: 4122 730 43 52; email: balpe@ifrc.org.

All International Federation Operations seek to adhere to the Code of Conduct and are committed to the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response (SPHERE Project) in delivering assistance to the most vulnerable.

For further information concerning Federation operations in this or other countries, please access the Federation website at http://www.ifrc.org.

John Horekens
Director
Division of External Relations

Simon Missiri
Head
Asia and Pacific Department

Annex 1