Floods in the Netherlands
Encyclopedia
This is a chronological list of floods that have occurred in the Netherlands, until 1500 most parts of the Netherlands were in Frisia
.
Frisia
Frisia is a coastal region along the southeastern corner of the North Sea, i.e. the German Bight. Frisia is the traditional homeland of the Frisians, a Germanic people who speak Frisian, a language group closely related to the English language...
.
- 838 December 26: A large part of the northwest of the NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
(in that time the land belonged to FrisiaFrisiaFrisia is a coastal region along the southeastern corner of the North Sea, i.e. the German Bight. Frisia is the traditional homeland of the Frisians, a Germanic people who speak Frisian, a language group closely related to the English language...
- now called FrieslandFrieslandFriesland is a province in the north of the Netherlands and part of the ancient region of Frisia.Until the end of 1996, the province bore Friesland as its official name. In 1997 this Dutch name lost its official status to the Frisian Fryslân...
) was flooded by a storm. Lack of good dikes was an important cause of this flood disaster. Bishop Prudentius of TroyesPrudentius of TroyesPrudentius was bishop of Troyes, and a celebrated opponent of Hincmar of Reims in the controversy on predestination.-Life:Aragon was since 415 West-Gothic and in 812 became Frankish...
describes this flood; he said there were 2437 victims. This flood is also described in the Annales XantensesAnnales XantensesThe Annales Xantenses or Annals of Xanten are a series of annals written, probably at Lorsch for the period 832 to 852 and at Cologne for the period until 873. The Lorsch author is probably Gerward, a royal chaplain, but the continuator is unknown...
. - 1014 September 28: for the first time the partially closed coast line of the NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
was breached. WalcherenWalcherenthumb|right|250px|Campveer Tower in Veere, built in 1500Walcheren is a former island in the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands at the mouth of the Scheldt estuary. It lies between the Oosterschelde in the north and the Westerschelde in the south and is roughly the shape of a rhombus...
suffered a particularly large amount of damage. It took years before people managed to get their lives back on track. The chronicle of the QuedlinburgQuedlinburgQuedlinburg is a town located north of the Harz mountains, in the district of Harz in the west of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. In 1994 the medieval court and the old town was set on the UNESCO world heritage list....
abbey in SaxonySaxonyThe Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
reports that thousands of people died. - 1042 November 2: flood mentioned in Annales Blandiniensis (Ghent), probably only affecting the Flemish coast and in particular the region of the YserYserThe Yser is a river that finds its origin in the north of France, enters Belgium and flows into the North Sea at the town of Nieuwpoort.-In France:The source of the Yser is in Buysscheure, in the Nord département of northern France...
mouth. - 1134: The ZwinZwinThe Zwin is a nature reserve at the North Sea coast, on the Belgian-Dutch border. It consists of the entrace area of a former tidal inlet which during the Middle Ages connected the North Sea with the ports of Sluis and Bruges inland....
opens as a channel connecting BrugesBrugesBruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....
with the North Sea. - 1163: The NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
experienced several floods this year. This caused dike breaches along the Maas. As a result the mouth of the Oude Rijn at KatwijkKatwijkKatwijk is a coastal municipality and town in the province of South Holland in the western Netherlands. It has a population of 61,292.-Location:...
, which was already almost entirely silted up, was entirely closed by sediment carried around by the flood. - 1170: First All Saints' floodAll Saints' Flood (1170)The All Saints' Flood of 1170 was a catastrophic flood in the Netherlands that took place in 1170. Large parts of the Northern Netherlands, and Holland territories were overflowed. This is the flood that created the Zuiderzee...
(Allerheiligenvloed). Large parts of the north of the NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and the Zuiderzee region were inundated. A channel from the North SeaNorth SeaIn the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
was opened into the fresh water Lake Flavo (Almere lakeAlmereAlmere is a planned city and municipality in the province of Flevoland, the Netherlands, bordering Lelystad and Zeewolde. The municipality of Almere comprises the districts Almere Stad, Almere Haven, Almere Buiten, Almere Hout, Almere Poort and Almere Pampus .Almere is the youngest city in the...
), and it became the salt water Zuiderzee. This flood marked the beginning and spread of the North SeaNorth SeaIn the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
, Zuiderzee and Waddenzee. Two factors causing this sea enlargement were important: first was the sea area increase, second the presence of large peatPeatPeat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...
areas, which were easily washed away. - 1196: St. Nicholas' FloodDutch text (Sint-Nicolaasvloed). Large parts of the north of the NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and the Zuiderzee region were inundated. Where the storm flood of 1170 made a beginning, this storm worsened it, washing away large peatPeatPeat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...
areas. The result of this storm was destruction of peat areas in West FrieslandWest Friesland (historical region)West Friesland is a historical region in the northern part of the Netherlands. It was located in parts of what now is Noord-Holland and the Waddenzee. The region was bordered by the rivers Vlie and IJ...
and enlarging the Waddenzee and the AlmereAlmereAlmere is a planned city and municipality in the province of Flevoland, the Netherlands, bordering Lelystad and Zeewolde. The municipality of Almere comprises the districts Almere Stad, Almere Haven, Almere Buiten, Almere Hout, Almere Poort and Almere Pampus .Almere is the youngest city in the...
which became the Zuiderzee. - 1212: Noord-Holland suffered a large flood with approximately 60,000 victims.
- 1214: Storm flood affecting all parts of the Netherlands. Much erosion of peatPeatPeat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...
areas. - 1219 January 16: St. Marcellus' Flood (Sint-Marcellusvloed). Large parts of the north of the NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and the Zuiderzee region were inundated, killing an estimated 36000 people. This was the 4th large flood in 50 years. This had enormous consequences on the development of the two large inner seas in the NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, the Zuiderzee and the Waddenzee. - 1248 20 November, 28 December, and 4 February 1249: The coastal dunes were breached (likely at CallantsoogCallantsoogCallantsoog is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Zijpe, and lies about 13 km south of Den Helder...
), flooding parts of North Holland. Also flooding occurred in Friesland and Groningen. - 1277: A flood drowned the ReiderlandReiderlandReiderland is a former municipality in the province Groningen in the northeastern Netherlands, which was founded in 1990 during a large municipal reorganization. The former municipalities Finsterwolde and Bad Nieuweschans were abolished and added to Beerta. In 1992, the new municipality was given...
: see Drowned villages in Groningen province. - 1280: Large parts of the north of the NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
were inundated. This flood created the Lauwerszee. - 1282: A storm broke through the coastal duneDuneIn physical geography, a dune is a hill of sand built by wind. Dunes occur in different forms and sizes, formed by interaction with the wind. Most kinds of dunes are longer on the windward side where the sand is pushed up the dune and have a shorter "slip face" in the lee of the wind...
s around TexelTexelTexel is a municipality and an island in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the biggest and most populated of the Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea, and also the westernmost of this archipelago, which extends to Denmark...
and let sea water flood into what is now the Waddenzee and IJsselmeerIJsselmeerIJsselmeer is a shallow artificial lake of 1100 km² in the central Netherlands bordering the provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and Friesland, with an average depth of 5 to 6 m. The IJsselmeer is the largest lake in Western Europe....
. - 1287 December 14: St. Lucia's floodSt. Lucia's floodSt. Lucia's flood was a storm tide that affected the Netherlands and Northern Germany on December 14, 1287 when a dike broke during a storm, killing approximately 50,000 to 80,000 people in the fifth largest flood in recorded history. Much land was permanently flooded in what is now the Waddenzee...
. - 1362: Grote MandrenkeGrote MandrenkeThe Grote Mandrenke was the name of a massive southwesterly Atlantic gale which swept across England, the Netherlands, northern Germany, and Schleswig around January 16, 1362, causing at minimum 25,000 deaths. January 16 is the feast day of St...
strikes in January, causing the "Great Drowning of Men." Hurricane-force winds drove enormous waves atop an incredible storm surgeStorm surgeA storm surge is an offshore rise of water associated with a low pressure weather system, typically tropical cyclones and strong extratropical cyclones. Storm surges are caused primarily by high winds pushing on the ocean's surface. The wind causes the water to pile up higher than the ordinary sea...
that carved a huge inland sea into the Netherlands, killing at least 25,000 inhabitants. The salt sea swallowed sixty parishes in the Danish diocese of the bishops of Slesvig. This storm also demolished much infrastructure in England. - 1404: First St. Elizabeth's Flood. See St. Elizabeth's flood (1404)St. Elizabeth's flood (1404)The St. Elizabeth's flood of 1404 occurred on or around November 19, 1404, the namesake day of St. Elizabeth. The floods were especially catastrophic in Flanders, Zeeland and Holland.The area in Zeeland and Flanders had been flooded 29 years earlier, on October 8, 1375. As a result of the floods,...
. - 1421 November 18: Second St. Elisabeth's Flood. See St. Elizabeth's flood (1421)St. Elizabeth's flood (1421)The St. Elizabeth's flood of 1421 was a flooding of an area in what is now the Netherlands. It takes its name from the feast day of Saint Elisabeth of Hungary which was formerly November 19....
. - 1530: St. Felix's FloodSt. Felix's FloodThe St. Felix's Flood happened on Saturday 5 November 1530, the name day of St. Felix. This day was later known as Evil Saturday . Large parts of Flanders and Zeeland were washed away, including the Verdronken Land van Reimerswaal. According to Audrey M...
(Sint-Felixvloed). - 1570 November 1: Second All Saints' flood (Allerheiligenvloed).
- 1675: This affected mainly the north of the NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. It flooded part of TerschellingTerschellingTerschelling is a municipality and an island in the northern Netherlands, one of the West Frisian Islands.Waddenislanders are known for their resourcefulness in using anything and everything that washes ashore. With few trees to use for timber, most of the farms and barns are built with masts...
; the surroundings of StavorenStavorenStavoren is a small town on the coast of the IJsselmeer, about 5 km south of Hindeloopen. It lies within the municipality of Súdwest-Fryslân. Stavoren was granted city rights in 1118, making it the oldest city in Friesland...
and HindeloopenHindeloopen-External links:* Museum Hindeloopen: Hindelooper schilderkunst, klederdracht, stads- en scheepvaarthistorie.*...
; the MastenbroekMastenbroekMastenbroek is a polder in the Dutch province of Overijssel. It lies north of the city of Zwolle. "Mastenbroek" is also the name of a small village, built around a church in the middle of the poder....
by KampenKampen (Overijssel)Kampen is a municipality, a city and an old Hanseatic city at the lower reaches of the river IJssel in the Dutch province of Overijssel.The municipality of Kampen counts 50,073 inhabitants in an area of approximately 162 km² . Kampen is located in the North West of Overijssel and is the...
; the area between SchagenSchagenSchagen is a town and municipality in the northwestern Netherlands. It is located between Alkmaar and Den Helder, in and region of West Friesland and the province of North Holland. In 2007, Schagen had 19.078 residents. It received city rights in 1415....
and Den HelderDen HelderDen Helder is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Den Helder occupies the northernmost point of the North Holland peninsula...
; Noord-Holland east of AlkmaarAlkmaarAlkmaar is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of Noord Holland. Alkmaar is well known for its traditional cheese market. For tourists, it is a popular cultural destination.-History:...
; the surroundings of AmsterdamAmsterdamAmsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
; a very large area around the HaarlemmermeerHaarlemmermeerHaarlemmermeer is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is a polder, consisting of land reclaimed from water, and the name Haarlemmermeer means Haarlem's Lake, still referring to the body of water from which the region was reclaimed in the 19th century.Its main...
. - 1703 December 7 to 9 (or according to the old English calendar which still applied in 1703, 27 November): Great Storm of 1703Great Storm of 1703The Great Storm of 1703 was the most severe storm or natural disaster ever recorded in the southern part of Great Britain. It affected southern England and the English Channel in the Kingdom of Great Britain...
. This storm caused a flood killing thousands of victims. There are no wind measurements available, but a wealth of reports and diaries make it clear that this storm was extremely serious. The storm reached its peak in the night and led to enormous damage and numerous dike breaches. It was heaviest in an area of approximately 500 kilometres wide in WalesWalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, central and southern England, the North SeaNorth SeaIn the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
, the Low CountriesLow CountriesThe Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
, and the north of GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. At many places there was talk of a high storm surge. Seamen reported tornadoTornadoA tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...
es. Other sources wrote about a terrible storm and these well agree with each other. The air was full of lightningLightningLightning is an atmospheric electrostatic discharge accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms...
. The English journalist and writer Daniel DefoeDaniel DefoeDaniel Defoe , born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, and pamphleteer, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain and along with others such as Richardson,...
(the writer of Robinson CrusoeRobinson CrusoeRobinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe that was first published in 1719. Epistolary, confessional, and didactic in form, the book is a fictional autobiography of the title character—a castaway who spends 28 years on a remote tropical island near Trinidad, encountering cannibals, captives, and...
) wrote concerning the "most terrible storm which the world ever saw". The storm was according to Defoe so dreadful that there was no pen to describe it. There had already been a storm for two weeks, but this was the peak. The south of FrieslandFrieslandFriesland is a province in the north of the Netherlands and part of the ancient region of Frisia.Until the end of 1996, the province bore Friesland as its official name. In 1997 this Dutch name lost its official status to the Frisian Fryslân...
was flooded from several dike breaches. A ZeelandZeelandZeeland , also called Zealand in English, is the westernmost province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the south-west of the country, consists of a number of islands and a strip bordering Belgium. Its capital is Middelburg. With a population of about 380,000, its area is about...
ish captain wrote in a letter to the admiralty of ZeelandZeelandZeeland , also called Zealand in English, is the westernmost province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the south-west of the country, consists of a number of islands and a strip bordering Belgium. Its capital is Middelburg. With a population of about 380,000, its area is about...
that the storm could not be withstood. The Dutch fleet was hit hard, but the British fleet bore the heaviest blows. Dozens of war ships sailed to the English coasts where thousands of victims died. Meteorologists have tried to reconstruct the chart of this storm. Above ScandinaviaScandinaviaScandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
the air pressure was high at the beginning of December 1703, but in the Bay of BiscayBay of BiscayThe Bay of Biscay is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal, and is named in English after the province of Biscay, in the Spanish...
south west of the United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
there were two depressions. The first depression went up the North Sea, the second went to ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The venom, however, was in a new block which appeared at IrelandIrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. This increasingly drew in strong activity around the middle and from Britain further to the east. The storm blew on the south side of the depression where the south of BritainGreat BritainGreat Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
had a hurricane, wind strength 12. The barometerBarometerA barometer is a scientific instrument used in meteorology to measure atmospheric pressure. Pressure tendency can forecast short term changes in the weather...
s plummeted dramatically: according to calculations the air pressure must have decreased to 950 millibars, a rare low for Britain. A powerful anticyclone which came immediately ensured enormous air pressure differences, as a result of which it blew terribly this way. - 1717 December 24/25 night: Christmas flood (Kerstvloed): see Christmas flood 1717Christmas flood 1717The Christmas Flood of 1717 was the result of a northwesterly storm, which hit the coast area of the Netherlands, Germany and Scandinavia on Christmas night of 1717. In total, approximately 14,000 people drowned. It was the last large flood in the north of the Netherlands. Floodwaters reached the...
. - 1820 January 23: This flood inundated large parts of the AlblasserwaardAlblasserwaardThe Alblasserwaard is a polder in the province South Holland in the Netherlands. It is mainly known for the windmills of Kinderdijk, a village in the northwest of the Alblasserwaard.-History:...
, after a number of dike breaches. Also the lockLock (water transport)A lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is...
between the LingeLingeLinge is a river in the Betuwe that is over 100 km long, which makes it one of the longest rivers that flow entirely within the Netherlands.It starts near the village Doornenburg near the German border. A legend tells us that if there will be no more pigs grazing at the castle of Doornenburg, the...
and the canal from Steenenhoek to GorinchemGorinchemGorinchem , also called Gorkum , is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of 21.99 km² of which 3.03 km² is water...
succumbed on 26 January during the events of this calamity. An area of approximately 1300 km² came under water during this calamity. - 1825 February 3 to 5: The provinces of GroningenGroningen (province)Groningen [] is the northeasternmost province of the Netherlands. In the east it borders the German state of Niedersachsen , in the south Drenthe, in the west Friesland and in the north the Wadden Sea...
, FrieslandFrieslandFriesland is a province in the north of the Netherlands and part of the ancient region of Frisia.Until the end of 1996, the province bore Friesland as its official name. In 1997 this Dutch name lost its official status to the Frisian Fryslân...
and OverijsselOverijsselOverijssel is a province of the Netherlands in the central eastern part of the country. The region has a NUTS classification of NL21. The province's name means "Lands across river IJssel". The capital city of Overijssel is Zwolle and the largest city is Enschede...
were flooded through serious dike breaks, as a result of which more than 800 people lost their lives. At 17 February 1825 the government set up a relief commissionGovernment agencyA government or state agency is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an intelligence agency. There is a notable variety of agency types...
to provide government assistance for the flood disaster. Accounts of this commission are kept in the national archives in Den Haag. In memory of this flood, the book Gedenkboek van Neerlands watersnood in februari 1825 ("Memorial Book of the Dutch Flood Disaster of February 1825") was published. - 1836: Two hurricane-driven floods by the HaarlemmermeerHaarlemmermeerHaarlemmermeer is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is a polder, consisting of land reclaimed from water, and the name Haarlemmermeer means Haarlem's Lake, still referring to the body of water from which the region was reclaimed in the 19th century.Its main...
lake: One in November reached the gates of AmsterdamAmsterdamAmsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
. One on Christmas Day flooded Leyden. As a result, in May 1840 men started to drain and reclaim the HaarlemmermeerHaarlemmermeerHaarlemmermeer is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is a polder, consisting of land reclaimed from water, and the name Haarlemmermeer means Haarlem's Lake, still referring to the body of water from which the region was reclaimed in the 19th century.Its main...
. - 1916 January 13 and 14: Flood disaster around the Zuiderzee. At dozens of places the dikes broke. Afterwards work started on the Zuiderzeewerken and the establishment of the storm flood service.
- 1953 January 31/February 1 night: See North Sea flood of 1953North Sea flood of 1953The 1953 North Sea flood was a major flood caused by a heavy storm, that occurred on the night of Saturday 31 January 1953 and morning of 1 February 1953. The floods struck the Netherlands, Belgium, England and Scotland.A combination of a high spring tide and a severe European windstorm caused a...
.
External links
- http://www.orisant.com/verdronken/lijst.htm (in DutchDutch languageDutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
) - http://www.mrjumbo.com/contents/ostfriesland/maps/wasserflutt.html Christmas Day flood 1717 map
- http://www.deltawerken.com/The-flood-of-1953/89.html The Flood of 1953 in the Netherlands
- http://www.safecoast.org Knowledge exchange on coastal flooding and climate change in the North Sea region
- Rome's Greatest Defeat, A Review - All Saints' Flood of 1170. File retrieved March 11, 2007.