Over the centuries , the Dutch coastline has changed considerably as a result of natural disasters and human intervention . On 14 December 1287 , St. Lucia 's flood affected the Netherlands and Germany , killing more than 50,000 people in one of the most destructive floods in recorded history . The St. Elizabeth flood of 1421 and the mismanagement in its aftermath destroyed a newly reclaimed polder , replacing it with the '' Biesbosch '' tidal floodplains in the south-centre . The huge North Sea flood of early February 1953 caused the collapse of several dikes in the south-west of the Netherlands ; more than 1,800 people drowned in the flood . The Dutch government subsequently instituted a large-scale programme , the " Delta Works " , to protect the country against future flooding , which was completed over a period of more than thirty years
North Sea flood of early February 1953
North Sea flood of 1953
Netherlands