Rains wreak havoc on western N. Korean province: reports

SEOUL, July 31 (Yonhap) -- Counties across South Hwanghae Province on the west coast of North Korea have been pounded by heavy rains in recent days, North Korean media reported Sunday.
According to state-run Korean Central Television and Korean Central Broadcasting Station, Chongdan County in the southern part of the province received 522 millimeters of rain over a 12-hour period last Tuesday, and more than 14,200 hectares of farmland were flooded. Yonan County, just east of Chongdan, got 313 millimeters of rain and lost about 10,200 hectares of land.
Over the weekend, other counties such as Paechon were also battered by rains, news reports said. In Yonan, 13 bridges were destroyed, while roads and railways across the province were also damaged, reports added.
The North Korean media provided no information on casualties.
Recent downpours have raised concerns that the impoverished state's serious food shortages could worsen.
North Korea has relied heavily on international aid to feed its 24 million people since natural disasters and mismanagement devastated its economy in the mid 1990s. Pyongyang has stepped up appeals for food aid this year.