gale. A surge developed along the coast of the Netherlands, which coincided with a high spring tide, leading to many water levels on the Dutch coast on the morning of 1 February 1953 being higher than any previous recorded figures, particularly in the south-western areas of the country. At 10:30 p.m. on Saturday evening 31 January, it was low tide. But this time the water remained high. The strength of the hurricane had broken the tidal movement. On the night of 1 February 1953 around 3 a.m., many dykes in the province of Zeeland, the southern parts of the province of South Holland and the northwestern parts of the province of North Brabant proved unable to resist the combination of spring tide and a northwesterly storm. On both the islands and the mainland, large areas of the country were flooded. At 4 p.m. on 1 February, the flood reached a second high. The water rose even higher than during the first flood, and more dikes broke. Many people who had survived the first flood died, as the houses on which they sheltered on the rooftops collapsed due to the persistent water pressure. At that time, the government did not yet know that Schouwen-Duiveland, Goeree-Overflakkee and Tholen were almost completely under water, and no large-scale rescue operations had yet taken place. Only on Monday 2 February were fishermen the first to sail deep into the disaster area to save hundreds of people. Rescue operations from the air were hardly possible: the Netherlands had only 1 helicopter and had to wait until other countries offered help. On Tuesday February 3, a large flow of people and relief supplies started. Planes dropped sandbags, dinghies, boots, food and water over the disaster area. At the same time, thousands of Dutch soldiers, administrators, aid workers and volunteers arrived to carry out coordinated actions in the disaster area. Tens of thousands of residents were being evacuated from the area to shelters elsewhere in the country. Foreign helicopters and amphibious vehicles also came into action on Tuesday, but the vast majority of rescue operations had already been completed by then. Donations and relief supplies were pouring in at the National Disaster Fund in The Hague. Other countries, including England, Sweden and Canada sent more than 61 million guilders in relief supplies. Many people still commemorate the dead during the on 1 February. Warnings Rijkswaterstaat had warned about