8 dead in Ostend: flood of 70 years ago also affected our coast
The flood of 1953 was the worst natural disaster of the 20th century in both the Netherlands and Belgium. In the Netherlands, 1,836 people died, 100,000 people ended up on the streets and 200,000 hectares of land were flooded. There were 28 deaths in our country.
The storm hit our country in the coastal region and in the municipalities and cities along the Scheldt. The water level on our coast reached a level of more than 7 meters that night. Dykes and water walls collapsed everywhere. In no time the city center of Ostend was flooded. Eight people died on the eastern edge of the city near the Spuikom, surprised by the water in their sleep. Robert Simoen, eyewitness: “The flood was one big misery. The worst was in the city of Ostend. Elsewhere dikes had of course also broken and here and there a villa was flooded, such as at the Krokodil in Middelkerke. But the worst part was our low-lying downtown that was flooded. That was terrible.”
But unlike in the Netherlands, not entire headlands were flooded in our country, but mainly agricultural areas. That explains the lighter balance after the passage of the storm, although the consequences for the hundreds of victims in our country were not much different than for the hundreds of thousands of Dutch people who saw the storm pass over their belongings.
Wave of solidarity
A great wave of solidarity immediately started in Ostend. The young king Boudewijn also came to support the many affected families. It took weeks to recover, and many have never forgotten the misery of the winter of 1953.
After these heavy floods, the Dutch government decided to start the Delta Works. The purpose of these drastic works was to permanently protect the land against the power of the water.
Similar works were not immediately started in our country. However, the tasks of the polders and waterways were tinkered with and adjustments were made to the warning systems. The Sigma Plan was later developed.