the peaks were too high for some dykes to withstand. The backs of the dykes were not fortified, so the first overtopping waters destroyed the dykes from behind and cleared the way for the flood. Helmut Schmidt, police senator of Hamburg, coordinated the rescue operations, and requested for emergency help throughout Europe. He requested parts of the Bundeswehr for emergency purposes, especially engineers. That meant overstepping his legal authority, ignoring the German constitution's prohibition on using the army for "internal affairs" - a clause excluding disasters was not added until 1968. Also he got help by helicopters from other NATO states. The latter were called Fliegende Engel (Flying Angels) by the people. 120 square kilometres or a sixth of the city of Hamburg were flooded, destroying 6,000 buildings. Streets were unusable and railway operation was suspended, leaving Hamburg unsupplied for an indeterminate period of time. Aftermath Greece donated 500 tonnes of raisins to the people of Hamburg after the flood. Afterwards, emergency plans were implemented, and dykes were shortened and strengthened, leaving some river arms and bays unattached from the sea. See also History of Hamburg North Sea flood of 1953 Storm tides of the North Sea List of floods in Europe List of deadliest floods References Further reading Lamb, H.H. and Frydendahl, Knud (1991). Historic Storms of the North Sea, British Isles and Northwest Europe. Cambridge University Press. Sönnichsen, Uwe, Staritz, Hans-Werner: Trutz, blanke Hans – Bilddokumentation der Flutkatastrophen 1962 und 1976 in Schleswig-Holstein und Hamburg, Husum Druck- und Verlagsgesellschaft, Husum 1978, (in German) Schuller, Alexander: "Sturmflut über Hamburg. Die Nacht, in der eine Stadt ertrank – Ein Tatsachenroman", . Heßler, Martina, Kehrt, Christian (Hrsg.): Die Hamburger Sturmflut von 1962. Risikobewusstsein und Katastrophenschutz aus zeit-, technik- und umweltgeschichtlicher Perspektive (= Umwelt und Gesellschaft. Bd. 11). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen u.a. 2014, . Carstensen, Holger (Hrsg.): Schwarze Landschaft nach Sturm. Der Hamburger Künstler Arnold Fiedler erlebt die Hamburger Sturmflut von 1962. Verlag Cord Oltmanns, Hamburg 2011, . Carstensen, Holger: Schwarze Landschaft nach Sturm. Arnold Fiedler erlebt die Hamburger Sturmflut von 1962 Verlag Cord Oltmanns, Hamburg 2011, . Schäfer, Katrin: „Davongekommen“ Die Sturmflut an der schleswig-holsteinischen Westküste. Husum Verlag, Husum 2012, . Storm tides of the North Sea 1960s in Hamburg Floods in Germany Floods in the Netherlands Floods in the United Kingdom Floods in Europe 1962 in Germany 1962 natural disasters 1962 floods European windstorms February 1962 events in Europe