From 1937 onwards Van Veen warned about the deplorable condition of the Dutch flood defences . He stipulated that a disaster was imminent , but politically he found no support for his warnings . The main reason being that improvement of dikes would cost a lot of money , which was not available in The Netherlands just after the war ( the country depended mainly on money from the Marshall Plan . He had already published a book in English on the history of Dutch Hydraulic Engineering ( '' Dredge , Drain , Reclaim , the Art of a Nation '' ) . In later reprints of this book he added a chapter by " Dr. Cassandra " as he used this pseudonym , including these warnings . His final warning report was a study describing the risks , including a plan to improve the situation by closing some estuaries . This document was dated January 29 , 1953 . During the following night The Netherlands were struck by the biggest storm surge ever , the North Sea flood of February 1st , 1953 . After the disaster a State Commission was installed ( 18 February 1953 ) , Johan van Veen was appointed Secretary of the State Commission . In May 1953 the commission offered its first interim report , recommending immediate closure of the Hollandse IJssel with a storm surge barrier Flood barrier , and to implement Van Veen 's plan to close the estuaries ( the Delta Works ) . Eventually this work had been carried out ; the final report of the commission was published in 1960 , one year after Johan van Veen died . In The Netherlands Johan van Veen is remembered as the " father of the Delta Plan " and in England as " Master of the Floods "
North Sea flood of February 1st , 1953
North Sea flood of 1953
Johan van Veen