North Korea on alert for downpour damages amid COVID crisis

By HYUNG-JIN KIM
Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea says it is making all-out efforts to prevent potential damages caused by heavy rains this week that could aggravate the country’s economic hardships amid its COVID-19 outbreak. North Korea’s weather authorities issued alerts for torrential downpours in most of its regions from Monday through Wednesday. The official Korean Central News Agency said Tuesday that authorities in the North’s central and southwestern regions are mobilizing all available resources to cope with possible flood-related damage. South Korea’s weather agency said most of North Korea has been receiving heavy rains since Sunday. Deforestation and poor drainage mean heavy rains often cause serious flooding in the country.