Relief and assistance
from at home and abroad
Soldiers, from the Netherlands and from neighbouring countries, moving up to give assistance
Large-scale actions almost everywhere to relieve the distress
As soon as the first news of the floods became known on that stormy
Sunday morning of 1st February, 1953, and later messages presented an
increasingly sorrowful picture of the size and impact of the disaster,
people everywhere rallied to give aid and assistance and their initiative
spread like a magnificent chain reaction.
This spontaneous action, prompted by a feeling of pity and solidarity,
naturally originated in the first place in the Netherlands itself.
It started with thousands of individual acts of personal initiative, as
is illustrated by the following examples:
on that Sunday morning a simple skipper who was taking a small
vessel to its last destination for breaking up noticed the beginning
of a dike breach near Ouderkerk on the river Hollandse IJssel; without
a moment's hesitation and on his own initiative he placed the vessel
in the middle of the breach and with this single courageous act he
prevented the flooding of large areas and the death of a large number
of people and livestock.
on the Sunday afternoon inhabitants of Rotterdam and The Hague
went south in increasing numbers on hastily requisitioned vehicles,
dressed in their oldest clothes and armed with a spade, to assist in
saving a number of seriously damaged dikesan impressive "to arms!"
of a people hardened in the struggle against the water; during those
first few days many of them worked continuously for twenty-four
hours and longer.
on that same grey Sunday afternoon numerous Netherlanders normal
ly keen on practising aquatic sports took their craft to the scene of
the disaster; volunteers assisted the Red Cross organization in setting
up primitive but highly efficient aid posts and reception centres along
the perimeter of the flooded areas. National unity at its best, of which
we can only mention a few examples here.
After a few days a large-scale organization for rendering assistance in
the stricken areas was in full operation. Army units were directed to the
scene, the Red Cross proved the value of its varied and wide-spread organiz
ation, while government services in the immediate vicinity of the area
concentrated fully on organized assistance. In this way an efficient appa
ratus was built up directed to lifesaving, evacuation and billeting.
In this connection mention should also be made of the great national
collection whereby an amount of more than fls. 100 millions was raised,
the financial and economic measures taken by the government and the
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