Today it is exactly 65 years ago. On the night of January 31 and February 1, the dikes broke in Zeeland, South Holland, and Brabant, three provinces of the Netherlands.
There was a disaster, especially in Zeeland, 1836 people died in that night and in the days that followed. Tens of thousands lost their home and their belongings.
Within half an hour the water was 2 to 3 meters high in some villages.
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Wikipedia
The course of the disaster was a storm surge in combination with spring tides. The dikes could not handle so much water.
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Here you can see which part of the Netherlands was flooded. On the first picture on the left, you can see what has been done later to prevent another disaster. The Deltawerken! Big dams were built to prevent the water from the see entering the water between the islands.
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Not only people died as you can imagine, also a lot of cattle died during the disaster.
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Many people were saved by rescuing them by boat.
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It was necessary to rescue people from the roofs of their houses because some houses were almost totally under water.
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My parents lived in Dordrecht, this town in South-Holland was also suffering from the high water, but not as bad as in Zeeland. My mother was expecting me. It is strange to realize that if she had lived in Zeeland, she might have died and I would never have been born because I would have died with her.
But I am alive and well and the Dutch built these dams, so there is not much chance that a new disaster will occur again.
That is if we stop the climate change because when the poles melt further and the seawater rises, you never know what will happen.
I wish you a nice and dry day,
Clio