The 'North Sea flood of 1953' and the associated storm combined to create a major
natural disaster which affected the coastlines of the
Netherlands and
England on the night of
31 January 1953 –
1 February 1953.
Belgium,
Denmark and
France were also affected by flooding and storm damage.
A combination of a high spring
tide and a severe
European windstorm caused a
storm tide. In combination with a tidal surge of the
North Sea the water level locally exceeded 5.6 meters above mean sea level. The flood and waves overwhelmed sea defences and caused extensive
flooding.
Officially, 1,835 people were killed in the Netherlands, mostly in the south-western province of
Zeeland. 307 were killed in the United Kingdom, in the
counties of
Lincolnshire,
Norfolk,
Suffolk and
Essex. 28 were killed in
West Flanders, Belgium.
Further loss of life exceeding 230 occurred on watercraft along
Northern European coasts as well as in deeper waters of the North Sea; the ferry
MV ''Princess Victoria'' was lost at sea in the
North Channel east of
Belfast with 133 fatalities, and many
trawlers sank.
North Sea flood in the Netherlands
In the night of
31 January/
1 February 1953 many dykes in the provinces of
Zeeland,
Zuid-Holland and
Noord-Brabant proved not to be resistant to the combination of
spring tide and a northwesterly storm. On both the islands and the mainland large areas of country were completely flooded with water. Many people still commemorate the dead on February 1.
Warnings
At the time of the disaster, none of the local radio stations broadcast at night, and many of the smaller
weather stations operated only during the day, as a result of which the warnings of the
KNMI did not penetrate the calamity area in time. People did not receive warning and were consequently unable to prepare for the impending flood. Telephone and
telegraph networks were disrupted, and within hours
amateur radio operators went in to the affected areas with their home-made radio equipment to form a voluntary emergency radio network. These well-organized radio amateurs worked tirelessly, providing radio communications for 10 days and nights, and were the only people maintaining contact with the outside world. In addition to the disaster happening during the night, it was Saturday night. As a result, many offices in the calamity area were unmanned.
Resulting damage
The floods put large parts of
Zuid-Holland,
Zeeland and
Noord-Brabant under water. In
North-Holland only one
polder was flooded.
The largest floodings occurred on the islands of
Schouwen-Duiveland,
Tholen,
Sint Philipsland,
Goeree-Overflakkee, the
Hoeksche Waard,
Voorne-Putten and
Alblasserwaard. Parts of the islands of
Zuid-Beveland,
Noord-Beveland,
IJsselmonde,
Pernis,
Rozenburg,
Walcheren and
Land van Altena were flooded, as well as parts of the areas around
Willemstad,
Nieuw-Vossemeer and parts of
Zeeuws-Vlaanderen.
The heaviest death toll was recorded at the islands of Schouwen-Duiveland and Goeree-Overflakkee.
The government started the Delta-commission to study the causes and effects of the floodings. They estimated that flooding killed 1,835 people and forced the
emergency evacuation of 70,000 more.
Floods covered 9% of Dutch
farmland, and sea water inundated 1.365 km² of land. An estimated 30,000 animals drowned, and 47,300 buildings were damaged of which 10,000 were destroyed. Total damage was estimated at that time at 895 million Dutch
guilders.
A near catastrophe prevented
The
Schielandse Hoge Zeedijk dyke along the river
Hollandse IJssel was all that protected three million people in the provinces of
South and
Noord Holland from flooding. A section of this dyke, known as the Groenendijk, was not reinforced with stone revetments. The waterlevel was just below the crest and the seaside slope was weak.
Volunteers worked to reinforce this stretch. Neverthelesss, the Groenendijk collapsed under the pressure around 5:30 am on
1 February. The seawater moved into the deep polder. In desperation, the
mayor of
Nieuwerkerk commandeered the river ship ''de Twee Gebroeders'' (''The Two Brothers'') and ordered the owner to plug the hole in the dike by navigating the ship into it. Fearing that the ship might break through and dive into the
polder, captain Arie Evegroen took a
row boat with him. The mayor's plan turned out to be successful, as the ship lodged itself firmly into the dike, saving many lives.
Reaction
Several neighbouring countries sent soldiers to assist in the search and rescue. The U.S. Army sent helicopters from
Germany to rescue people from the rooftops.
Queen Juliana and
Princess Beatrix visited the calamity area only a few days after. A large aid program came on apace, supported by the radio. A national donation program was started and there was a large amount of international aid. Politically, the disaster prompted discussions concerning the protection and strengthening of the dykes, eventually leading to the
Delta Works, an elaborate project involving the closing off of most
estuary-mouths.
North Sea flood in the United Kingdom
A breach at Erith after the 1953 flood
The North Sea flood of 1953 was one of the most devastating natural disasters ever recorded in the
UK. Over 1,600 km of coastline was damaged, and
sea walls were breached, inundating 1,000 km². Flooding forced 30,000 people to be evacuated from their homes, and 24,000 properties were seriously damaged.
In individual incidents, 38 died at
Felixstowe in Suffolk when wooden
prefabricated homes in the West End area of the town were flooded. In
Essex,
Canvey Island was inundated with the loss of 58 lives and another 37 died when the seafront village of
Jaywick near
Clacton was flooded.
The total death toll on land in the UK is estimated at 307. The total death toll at sea for the UK, including the
MV Princess Victoria, is estimated at 224.
North Sea Flood in Flanders (Belgium)
The coastal defence of
Flanders was also severely damaged. Near
Oostende,
Knokke and
Antwerp heavy damage was done to the seadefence with local breaches. 28 people died.
Response
In the Netherlands, an ambitious flood defence system was conceived and deployed, called the
Delta Works (
Dutch: ''Deltawerken''), designed to protect the estuary of
Rhine and
Meuse. The works were completed in 1998, upon completion of the storm surge barrier,
Maeslantkering, in the
Nieuwe waterweg, near
Rotterdam.
In the UK, major investments were made in new sea defences, and the
Thames Barrier programme was started to secure central
London against a future storm surge.
The future
The threat of another flood on the scale of 1953 remains potent, since the combination of events generating a massive storm surge could recur in normal climatic timescales. In addition, two risk factors could increase the likelihood, or the severity, of another incident. Firstly, the western part of the Netherlands and the south-eastern part of the UK are gradually settling lower as other parts lift higher due to
isostatic rebound after the disappearance of the
glacial sheet from the last
ice age. Secondly, sea levels are
rising as a result of
climate change, which may also cause more frequent and more severe storms.
Flood barriers, improved weather forecasting, modern communications and sophisticated emergency services may help to reduce the potential loss of life from a future flood. However, this must be balanced by the impact of higher population densities, intensive building in coastal areas and, for the UK, by the decay of coastal defences since the 1950s improvements.
Films
★
BBC Timewatch made a documentary about The North Sea flood of 1953, called ''The Greatest Storm.''
References
★ Kelman, Ilan.
Assessment of UK deaths, 1953; study made for CURBE (Cambridge University Centre for Risk in the Built Environment)
See also
★
List of disasters
★
Floods in the Netherlands
★
List of natural disasters in the United Kingdom
★
List of United Kingdom disasters by death toll
★
North Sea flood of 1962
★
RAYNET
External links
★
Met Office history
★
BBC - future flood risk
★
The Flood of 1953 in the Netherlands Report on DeltaWorks.Org - Includes Animations, Images and Video.
★
Image of the riverboat "The two brothers" at Groenendijk
★
1953 Floods
★
The 1953 East Coast Floods
★
Suffolk under water — BBC Suffolk
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