During the North Sea flood of 1953 , in the night of 31 January – 1 February 1953 , many dikes in the provinces of Zeeland , Zuid-Holland and Noord-Brabant in the Netherlands were unable to withstand the combination of spring tide and a northwesterly storm . The resulting flood killed 1,835 people . A further 307 people were killed by dike breaches in the United Kingdom , in the counties of Lincolnshire , Norfolk , Suffolk and Essex . In the Netherlands this flood was a main reason for the construction of the Delta Works , probably the most innovative and extensive levee system in the world
North Sea flood of 1953
North Sea flood of 1953
Levee breach