Storm surge 1953

'The Disaster' claimed six lives on Texel

The storm surge of January 31 to February 1, 1953, is etched in our national memory as THE DISASTER, and with good reason. A total of 1,836 people lost their lives in the water. Our thoughts go out especially to Zeeland, West Brabant, and the islands of South Holland. Less well known is that the storm also claimed six lives on Texel. There, the dike of the De Eendracht polder failed. Elsewhere in North Holland, there was extensive damage to the sea dikes, the beach, and the dunes. What exactly happened on that infamous night 70 years ago?

The De Eendracht polder on Texel and the storm

The De Eendracht polder is located in the northeastern corner of Texel along the Wadden Sea. It was created in 1846 by three gentlemen who reclaimed a strip of salt marsh. The owners of the small polder were responsible for maintaining the approximately four-kilometer-long sea dike. As a result, it was of mediocre quality and, at a height of 3½ to 4 metre sea level, the lowest in all of Texel. When the wind rapidly increased in strength and the water level rose sharply on Saturday afternoon, January 31, 1953, the supervisor of De Eendracht decided to call in the dike guards. On the island of Texel, it was impossible to get help from elsewhere quickly. That is why, in case of danger, men were called in to guard the dikes and repair minor damage with sandbags. In De Eendracht, there were 13 men divided over three posts.

Dike breach

The dike guards were busy all evening. After midnight, however, the waves washed over the dike at De Eendracht. Soon, the situation became hopeless. At five o'clock in the morning, the farmers in De Eendracht were advised to evacuate. The dike finally failed at 8:15 a.m. on Sunday, February 1, in the southeast corner of the polder. In the meantime, however, a team of 45 volunteers had arrived by bus at the Zeeburg farm in the northeast corner of the polder. Due to the distance and poor visibility, they did not immediately notice that the dike had failed. When this became clear, the men set off by car and on foot along the small road back to the Eijerland dike behind them. The distance was 500 metre. However, right along that dike was a strip of extra low-lying land where the water was rising with great speed and force. The current was so strong that it pushed the bus off the road. The men were unable to stay on their feet and were swept away by the ice-cold water.

Overwhelmed by storm surge

Six volunteers did not survive. They drowned within sight of the safety of the Eijerland dike. They were Willem Dijker (57), Redmer IJska (56), Jan Koopman (48), Dirk Kuip (36), Wieger Bernardus (34), and Siebren Walsweer (23). The devastation was particularly great in De Waal. Four of the six victims were from this village. Fortunately, the bodies of the six were recovered. In 1959, the Texel water boards, in collaboration with the municipality, erected a monument in memory of the six. Above their names is the text 'Overcome by storm surge while protecting the land'.

Elsewhere on Texel

The other Wadden Sea dikes on Texel suffered severe damage during the storm. On the sea side, the dikes were covered with concrete slabs. The waves washed them loose and they slid away. South of Oudeschild, things threatened to go completely wrong. It was not possible to lower the sluice gate in the sea dike at the De Schans pumping station, and water gushed in. With combined efforts, people managed to seal the sluice with rail bars and sandbags. By then, the pumping station was already quite wet.

Dike repair and royal visit

The first employees of the Provincial Water Authority arrived on Texel early on Sunday morning. Later that day, a contingent of sailors and marines arrived and began working tirelessly security damaged dikes. Due to bad weather, it was not until February 11, 1953, that work could begin on closing the breach in the Eendrachtsdijk. By then, it had washed out to a width of 170 metre. Two days later, on February 13, Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard visited the island. The queen inspected the breach and took ample time in Den Burg to meet with the relatives of the six men who had drowned. The hole in the dike of the De Eendracht polder was closed on February 25, and two weeks later, the polder was dry again.

In the Northern Cape

The Helderse Zeewering suffered severe damage, particularly at Huisduinen. The basalt embankment was destroyed in several places and the water washed away several bunkers from the Second World War. Fortunately, there was no real danger. The situation was different north of Groote Keeten. There, the first row of dunes, known as the sea ridge, was metre in two places over a total distance of 750 metre . The large dune valley Het Botgat flooded. Now the old Van Oldenbarneveltsdijkje from 1610 had to hold back the sea. The water rose to the crest. In addition, this small dike had an old drainage sluice. This failed and the polder 't Hoekje behind it was in danger of flooding. Fortunately, a group of local residents managed to seal the sluice by the light of their car headlights. However, it still leaked heavily and it was not until 8 p.m. that the situation was completely under control. Since February 1, 2020, an information board just outside Groote Keeten commemorates these events.

Hondsbossche Sea Defense and Camperduin

The Hondsbossche Sea Defense near Petten was 8.50 metre sea level. Nevertheless, on February 1, the waves washed over the dike and carried away 200 metre from the work gate on the crest. At the junction with Camperduin, 1,500 square metre were washed away. Two bunkers still present in the sea wall proved to pose an additional danger. The water swirling around the bunkers carved deep channels into the dike. At Camperduin, a large chunk was washed away from the dune. There too, after the storm, a large bunker was washed up on the beach. The storm not only prompted the rapid removal of the bunkers, but also led to the Hondsbossche Sea Wall being reinforced with a short bend deep into the Camperduin dunes. This was urgently needed because the dike now protruded 100 metre into the sea metre the dunes.

Bergen aan Zee and Egmond aan Zee

As at Groote Keeten, the sea also broke through the sea wall at Bergen aan Zee near the Parnassia Valley. That valley filled up. Approximately 20 metre were lost here. After the storm, the road to the beach ended in a deep abyss of steeply eroded dunes. It was no different at Egmond aan Zee. During the stormy night, the sea reached the boulevard in this village twice. On February 10, there was still a lot of water in the dunes here and there. Deep channels in the beach showed how the water had flowed back to the sea. The Alkmaarsche Courant even referred to 'riverbeds'. The openings in the sea wall had already been closed with woven pine branches.

1976: Texel to the Binnenhof

In December 1953, the director of Provincial Water Management, C. Krijn, noted that repairing the dikes on Texel was not enough. Much more needed to be done to guarantee water safety. In saying this, he was anticipating the major Delta Plan. However, the dikes on Texel were given low priority in that plan. During a severe storm on January 3, 1976, waves once again washed over the dike of the Eendracht polder. Mayor Sprenger decided to evacuate three threatened polders. Everything turned out well, but the population had had enough. More than 7,000 people signed a petition to speed up the process. On January 27, hundreds of Texel residents traveled to the Binnenhof in 23 buses. "No corpses, raise those dikes!" was their message. This action was successful. That same year, Rijkswaterstaat began work, and by 1981, the Texel dikes were at Delta height.

New dike improvements

The Hondsbossche Zeewering also had a low priority in the Delta Plan. It was finally raised to Delta height in 1976-1981. In the meantime, the current dike manager, the Hollands Noorderkwartier Water Board, carried out another major dike improvement on Texel in 2016-2020. The old Hondsbossche Zeewering no longer exists today. In 2014-2015, Hollands Noorderkwartier had this dike wrapped in a wide beach, giving shape to the current Hondsbossche Duinen. Finally, since 1990, the government has maintained the so-called Basiskustlijn (basic coastline). If this line is structurally exceeded, the Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management will intervene and have the beach and dunes reinforced by means of sand replenishment. Vigilance remains essential at all times and in all places, especially in this era of climate change and rapid sea level rise. The dike is therefore never finished; the work continues.

The Texel heritage museumWaelstee(Hogereind 6, De Waal) houses a permanent exhibition about the February disaster on Texel.