Emergency Plan of Action (EPoA) DPRK/North Hamgyong Province: Floods Emergency Appeal n° MDRKP008 Glide n° FL-2016-000097-PRK Date of issue: 20 September 2016 Date of disaster: 31 August 2016 Operation manager (responsible for this EPoA): Point of contact: Marlene Fiedler Pak Un Suk Disaster Risk Management Delegate Emergency Relief Coordinator IFRC DPRK Country Office DPRK Red Cross Society Operation start date: 2 September 2016 Operation end date (timeframe): 31 August 2017 (12 months) Overall operation budget: CHF 15,199,723 DREF allocation: CHF 506,810 Number of people affected: Number of people to be assisted: 600,000 people Direct: 28,000 people (7,000 families); Indirect: more than 163,000 people in Hoeryong City, Musan County and Yonsa County Host National Society(ies) presence (n° of volunteers, staff, branches): Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Red Cross Society (DPRK RCS) Red Cross Red Crescent Movement partners actively involved in the operation: International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Other partner organizations actively involved in the operation: The State Committee for Emergency and Disaster Management (SCEDM), UN Organizations, European Union Programme Support Units A. Situation analysis Description of the disaster From August 29th to August 31st heavy rainfall occurred in North Hamgyong Province, DPRK – in some areas more than 300 mm of rain were reported in just two days, causing the flooding of the Tumen River and its tributaries around the Chinese-DPRK border and other areas in the province. Within a particularly intense time period of four hours in the night between 30 and 31 August 2016, the waters of the river Tumen rose between six and 12 metres, causing an immediate threat to the lives of people in nearby villages. Over the three days, 193 mm of rain deluged Hoeryong City. Beyond the rise of the Tumen River and its tributaries that would be vulnerable under such conditions, at least one pulse of water also flowed down the Tumen flood plain and made the flood even worse. These floods were further intensified due to Typhoon Lionrock which hit the coast and prevented the dissipation of the flood waters from excessive precipitation. Therefore the water was locked in the riverbed, and the surrounding areas were flash-flooded. The rainfall overview provided by the government is below: Province City/County Rainfall amount from 29 August to 1 September Kyonghung 320 mm Rason 261 mm Kyongsong 188 mm North Hamgyong Hoeryong 193 mm Musan 152 mm Onsong 155 mm Information provided by the Central Bureau of Statistics (latest update of 11 September) indicates that the following counties in North Hamgyong Province have been severely affected by the floods: Hoeryong City, Yonsa County, P a g e | 2 Onsong County, Kyongwon County, Musan County and Kyonghung County. The most damaged counties are Hoeryong City, Musan County and Yonsa County. Full access to Musan and Yonsa counties has not been established to date and therefore no confirmed data is available about the affected population in those counties. In Ryanggang Province it is reported that 272 families are affected in the counties of Taehong and Baekam which are bordering North Hamgyong Province. At least 140,000 people have been severely affected across six counties in the province of North Hamgyong in the northeast of the country. Over 30,000 houses have been damaged, submerged or completely destroyed and close to 70,000 people remain displaced. Up to now, there have been 138 deaths reported, with a further 400 people missing and presumed dead. The number of injured people remains unknown. The death toll from the disaster is expected to rise with low chances to locate missing persons. The flooding occurred during the night time and hit the population while they were sleeping. Natural disasters are an unusual event in this part of DPRK and the population in the affected areas were relatively unprepared, although the national early warning system was activated and people were warned of the flooding risk, many people did not leave their houses due to lack of awareness to the danger. The GoDPRK reports the following damage to infrastructure: about 27,411 hectares of arable land, including paddy (rice) and maize fields are destroyed, 99km of roads are blocked by landslides while a further 139km of roads surface was washed away, 45 km of roads completely destroyed and 66 bridges are damaged and impassable. Given that not all of the affected areas are accessible and communication is incomplete, it is likely that the damage figures will continue to change in the coming weeks. Summary of the current response Overview of Host National Society On 31 August 2016, phone calls about heavy rains and an ongoing flooding situation in North Hamgyong Province reached DPRK RCS Headquarters. On 1 September the Provincial Red Cross Branch requested the Headquarters of DPRK RCS for the release of non-food items (NFIs) to support the affected population. The Provincial Disaster Response Team (PDRT) was mobilized by the Branch on the same day to conduct an initial assessment. Up to 1,782 Red Cross volunteers were mobilized to support efforts in early warning and evacuation, search and rescue, first aid, hygiene promotion, psychological support and distribution of emergency relief items to the affected people in close cooperation and coordination with the local authorities and other public organizations. It was reported that all DPRK RCS branches in the affected counties activated their early warning systems, alerting the population of the upcoming rains, based on data provided by the national early warning mechanism. DPRK RCS volunteers communicated emergency information and early warning messages and supported the evacuation, especially targeting the most vulnerable people. Flood victims were provided with First Aid services including injury treatment, patient transportation, and hygiene promotion for epidemic disease control. On Friday evening (2 September) Family Kits for 2,500 families (10,000 people) were released from the Disaster Preparedness (DP) warehouses in Hamhung City (South Hamgyong Province) and Pyongyang. On 5 September, a second release of NFIs for 2,500 families from the DP warehouses was made at the request of the North Hamgyong Branch as new information confirmed that the impacts of the disaster were much greater than originally reported with a much higher number of people affected people and the additional request from North Hamgyong Provincial Branch. On 12 September a third release of 2,000 family kits was made as additional information from the affected areas reached DPRK RCS HQ in Pyongyang. In total 7,000 family kits have been released to date. The distribution is coordinated by the local DPRK RCS branch in cooperation with GoDPRK authorities. The beneficiary selection has focused on targeting support to the most vulnerable including displaced and non-displaced families in Hoeryong City, Musan County, Yonsa County, Onsong County, Kyongheun County and Kyongwon County affected by the flood. P a g e | 3 DPRK RCS Headquarters activated the flood contingency plan - establishing a task force to coordinate its response activities and convening a coordination meeting with the GoDPRK, IFRC and ICRC. Distribution Plan for Red Cross Relief NFIs for 2016 flood response operation Prepared on 11 Sep, 2016 FAMILY TARPAULI KITCHEN BLUE QUILT COTTON HYGIENE JERRY SHELTER Province Transportation time WAREHOUSE WPT TENT N SET QUILT COVER QUILT KIT CAN TOOLKIT Unit PC PC Set PC PC PC Kit PC Tablet Kit 1st release (2 Sep 2016) Hamhung 3,000 2,500 8,668 1,026 1,332 2,500 2,500 1st release (2 Sep 2016) Pyongyang 50 2,000 300,000 500 2nd release (5 Sep 2016) Pyongyang 50 3,461 2,459 8,232 2,500 2,456 60,960 500 2nd release (5 Sep 2016) Pyongsong 1,539 115,040 North 2nd release (5 Sep 2016) Chongjin 41 1,768 44 Hamgyong 2nd release (5 Sep 2016) Pukchang 124,000 3rd release (12 Sep 2016) Hamhung 1,565 2,186 2,000 3rd release (12 Sep 2016) Pyongyang 50 435 5,572 2,000 500 3rd release (12 Sep 2016) Pyongsong 1,428 242 3rd release (12 Sep 2016) Pukchang 2,572 46,180 Grand Total 150 14,000 7,000 10,436 1,026 17,564 7,000 7,000 646,180 1,500 Movement Coordination Several coordination meetings took place between the DPRK RCS and the IFRC Country Office since the floods hit the country. Meetings between the Secretary General (SG), DPRK RCS and the Head of Country Office were held to ascertain the situation and to discuss the next steps of floods response. The IFRC regional office in Kuala Lumpur is fully engaged and has been providing technical inputs and guidance since the beginning of the operation and has also been coordinating communications with international media and partners. Coordination with the ICRC is taking place on a regular basis as they are supporting DPRK RCS in health activities. In addition, technical meetings between the DPRK RCS disaster management (DM) department and the IFRC disaster management delegate were held at least daily to discuss operational issues and details. The IFRC country office shared an Information Bulletin on 3 September which was posted on the IFRC website. The IFRC secretary general visited DPRK from 29 August to 1 September and received firsthand information from the DPRK RCS about the floods as initial reports came to hand and has been kept informed of the evolving situation. Overview and coordination with non-RCRC actors and stakeholders in country The IFRC shares information regularly with the UN Resident Coordinator and through that office, UN OCHA and the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT). The UN and IFRC were invited on 3 September to a GoDPRK update on the disaster situation and were then able to update the other members of the HCT.