A storm surge is caused by high winds pushing against the coast. Barometric pressure can affect the level of the sea. A storm, which is an area of low pressure, will cause the sea to rise. The tidal conditions have an effect on sea level. Twice a month, a spring tide occurs and this increases the high tide and lessens the low tide.
All of these conditions were in place on January 31st to February 1st, 1953 when the North Sea flooded.
Causes of the 1953 North Sea Flood
A storm formed south of Iceland on January 30th, 1953 and it was not a cause for concern at the time because the barometric pressure was not unusually low. Hurricane-force winds blowing from the northwest pushed the storm over the North Sea.
The strong winds and a sudden drop in barometric pressure caused the sea level to rise and it formed a hump. As soon as this ridge of water was funneled into the North Sea and reached the shallower water, it created a storm surge.
Storm surges in the North Sea follow a typical pattern. They move in a counter-clockwise direction, first heading south and hitting the west coast of Britain and then spinning northward and striking the coast of Europe. This usually happens in a 24-hour period.
Storm surges are normally not a threat because sea walls, breakwaters and dykes have been built to withstand strong waves. The surge on January 31st, 1953 was not normal because there was a spring tide in effect, which forced the sea to rise to an abnormally high level. The strong waves bashed against the barriers and the high waters went right over the top.
The Met Office in the UK reported. “The greatest storm surge on record for the North Sea occurred on 31 January and 1 February 1953. The surge height reached 2.74 m at Southend in Essex, 2.97 m at King's Lynn in Norfolk, and 3.36 m in the Netherlands.”
- One meter (m) is approximately three feet.
Damage Caused by the 1953 North Sea Flood
Great Britain
- On January 31st, 1953, the Princess Victoria, a car ferry travelling from Stranraer in Scotland to Larne in Northern Ireland, sank and 133 lives were lost.
- A train in Norfolk collided with a house that was being swept away by the rushing floodwaters.
- The storm surge caused extensive damage along the coast from Yorkshire to the Thames Estuary. Canvey Island was hard hit where 58 people died and over 100 people lost their lives in flooded coastal towns.
- Beaches and dunes were washed out and agricultural land was flooded. Piers and breakwaters were smashed. There was extensive flooding along the Thames River where homes, factories, dockyards and refineries were evacuated.
Europe
- The weaker dikes in South Holland and Zeeland broke approximately three hours after midnight on February 1st, 1953. Over one thousand people immediately drowned in the rushing floodwater. Thousands more people awaited rescue from their rooftops.
- Many islands, including Schouwen, Duiveland and Walcheren in the Netherlands suffered extensive damage or were totally flooded by the storm surge.
- The Schelde River in Belgium flooded and the coast of Flanders was battered. Near Oostende, Knokke and Antwerp, heavy damage was done to the sea walls and 28 lives were lost.
The Met Office in the UK further reported. “Almost 100,000 hectares of eastern England were flooded and 307 people died. In The Netherlands, 50 dykes burst and 1,800 people drowned. The flood covered nine per cent of all Dutch agricultural land and three per cent of the dairy country. The sea reclaimed over 200,000 hectares of polder country.”
The invasion of saltwater on the farmland contaminated the soil and it took many years to clean it up.
Aftermath of the 1953 North Sea Flood
In the Netherlands, the Delta Works program was set up to improve flood protection and re-route estuary systems. There were storm surge barriers built, such as the structure in Eastern Scheldt and in the New Waterway.
In Britain, coastal sea barriers were re-engineered and the Thames Barrier was built to protect London against storm surges.
The Storm Tide Forecasting Service was set up in the UK to monitor sea level and wave action. It is responsible to issue warnings of coastal flooding and operates a network of automated tide-gauges for vital real-time data.
Article on Floods:
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