Story highlights Flood survivors in North Korea are at risk of respiratory infections and other illnesses

The IFRC has launched an emergency appeal to help survivors before the first winter snows

(CNN) One month after devastating floods ravaged North Korea's northeast, aid agencies have warned that many survivors are homeless and at risk of disease as winter looms.

"The situation at the moment isn't easy, but in two to three weeks it will be a different story," Patrick Elliott, a delegate with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), said in a statement released Friday.

The IFRC has warned that incoming snowfall in October could be disastrous for unprepared flood survivors.

"People have lost their coal supplies and are burning bits of wood in makeshift stoves to keep warm. They need proper roofs over their heads, fuel and warm clothes. The risk of a secondary disaster is very real."

Elliott said that increasing numbers of old people and young people had been diagnosed with respiratory infections and diarrhea.

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