THE 12 WORST FLOODS OF ALL TIME by Laura Perdew 12 story library
1 Netherlands City Lost After Massive Storm Surge The Netherlands is a small country in northwest Europe along the North Sea About half of its land area is less than 3 3 feet 1 m above sea level In fact the word Netherlands means low country in Dutch The nation has dikes dams and drainage systems to hold back water This infrastructure is not always enough to prevent flooding On November 5 1530 a large storm hit the Netherlands It caused a massive storm surge from the North Sea A wall of water rushed inland and washed away everything in its path Whole villages disappeared As many as 125,000 people lost their lives in the flooding Depiction of how the city of Reimerswaal became an island as a result of the flooding
The city of Reimerswaal sat a few feet higher than the surrounding area It became an island People tried to build new dams to hold back the water around the city They wanted to reclaim the land that was lost Nothing worked The area around the city remained flooded This led to the end of Reimerswaal Isolated by water residents deserted the city Today the area is a salt marsh 18 Number of villages washed away in the flood Much of the Netherlands lies at or below sea level A storm surge on November 5 1530 sent a wall of water inland Up to 125,000 people died in the flooding The flood led to Reimerswaal being deserted Map showing the area in the Netherlands that was affected by flooding THINK ABOUT IT Before modern technology how did people living by the North Sea build dikes and dams How is technology being used today to prevent flooding Research online to learn more
