The cause of the flood was a tidal surge , a combination of spring tide , northerly winds and low pressure like in the great flood of 1953 ( see North Sea flood of 1953 ) . Water from the storm in the North Sea surged up the rivers causing the dikes to overflow and break through . The flood reached a large sea arm between south-Holland and Zeeland or Zealand , destroying the Grote Hollandse Waard . At the lower point where the flood water reached the city of Dordrecht is the point where flood water still remains today
North Sea flood of 1953
North Sea flood of 1953
St. Elizabeth's flood (1421)