STORM TIDES

Natural and potentially catastrophic phenomenon regularly occurring throughout Dutch history. The inhabitants of the lower lands in the estuaries of the rivers such as the IJssel, Meuse, Rhine, and Scheldt were compelled to construct dikes for protection from high tides at points along the coast where there were no dunes or where they had been swept away such as in Zeeland, the north of Holland, and along the Zuiderzee (now the IJsselmeer). Serious storm floods occurred in 1421–1424, 1570, 1717, 1863, 1916, and 1953. The last flood claimed more than 1,800 lives and prompted the realization of the Delta-Plan.