A North Korean official told a visiting civilian relief group that the communist country suffered “considerable damage” due to heavy downpours and floods last month, an official at the relief group said Sunday.

Three officials from the South Korean affiliate of World Vision made a one-day visit to the North Korean border city of Kaesong on Friday to discuss food assistance to the North, but the two sides failed to reach an agreement on how to deliver shipments of food because of the issue of monitoring, the official said.

“During the consultations with the North’s side, a North Korean official told us that there was considerable damage from floods,” the official told Yonhap News Agency by telephone.

According to North Korean media reports, more than 100 people were killed and “tens of thousands” of people were left homeless last month due to torrential rain. The impoverished country has appealed for emergency aid from the international community, including the United Nations.

World Vision has planned to send 1,000 tons of flour to feed women and children in North Korea, but differences with the North over how to monitor the food delivery have hampered the plan, according to the official. (Yonhap News)