On This Day: The North Sea Flood of 1953

Today marks the 68-year anniversary of a disastrous flood event in Europe that led to a large project designed to save property and lives from future heavy rainstorms.

The start of February in 1953 was a nightmare for northern Europe and countries such as the Netherlands. An enormous, powerful winter storm overtook the North Sea with winds speeds in excess of 55 mph across a 600-mile footprint, nearly the width of the state of Montana. A consistent north to northwest wind centered across the Netherlands pushed ample amounts of water toward the coast.

Strong winds aligned with astronomical tides to drive waters even higher than normal. Storm surge reached 12.5 feet, nearly the height of a one-story building, in the Zeeland, Netherlands province, which is in the southwest portion of the country.

Large parts of the Netherlands lie below sea level and in 1953, dikes, or large slabs of rock, were in place to protect areas from floodwaters. Unfortunately, the storm surge in the 1953 storm overtopped many of the dikes and flooded enormous stretches of land and towns.

The result of the flooding was a tragedy with 1,836 lives lost due to the high waters. Damages tallied up to 5.4 billion pounds in today’s currency.

As a result of the 1953 North Sea Flood, the Netherlands undertook the ambition Delta Works Project. The project revamped the Netherlands flood protection system. Six dams and five barriers were constructed to protect the country from rising floodwaters. It wasn’t until 1997 that the project was complete, marking a 44-year development.

Money is still invested even to this day in the Delta Works Project to protect the Netherlands from a repeat of the catastrophic 1953 flood.

Source: rijkswaterstaat.nl
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Story Image: Flooding in Oude-Tong, Netherlands in 1953 (Wikimedia Commons).