Memories of the
floods of 1953
YORKE PENINSULA COUNTRY TIMES, TUESDAY, 3 FEBRUARY 2004
JOURNALIST:
Fiona Rait
"It was really frightening. I've
never been afraid of storms, but
this time I had an eerie feeling, a
foreboding of something bad about
to happen."
Fifty-one years have passed but
Moonta man, John Schweinsberg,
still remembers the night of
January 31/February 1, 1953, when
a devastating storm swept across
The Netherlands' southwest, killing
1,835 people.
John was among the many brave
volunteers who rallied to help the
iryured and homeless at the time.
"It was early on Saturday morn:
ing, the storm started and gradually
increased in strength, reaching its
maximum strength during the
night. But it was not only a storm,
there was also a king tide (an
extremely high tide due to the
moon cycle), and the water of the
North Sea could not pass fast
enough through the English
Channel", he recalls.
"Sparks flew as water struck
overhead tram lines and the force
of tonnes of seawater drove dykes
and sea walls to collapse, flooding
low lying land across the southwest
region of the country."
That night, John was attending a
Rover Scout meeting. "We were in a
hall in a coastal town, watching a doc
umentary. "The storm rattled the roof
and windows so much, you could
hardly hear the sound of the film.
"During the night the storm
increased to hurricane strength.
"The next morning, the pilots
(Sea Rover Scouts) were sum
moned back to Rotterdam to man
their 16 oar sloops to rescue people
from their inundated houses.
"Within the disaster area, people
could be seen sitting atop roofs, in
trees, on telephone poles and on
remnants of dykes.
"I was a member of the Red
Cross Corps (equivalent to our St
John and SA Ambulance Service)
and via radio got orders to report to
my divisional headquarters.
"Later, we went to Rotterdam
South to open an evacuee centre.
Many of us went with big boats
(used for harbour trips) to the pold
ers (land below sea-level, surround
ed by dykes) to rescue people and
animals. IV AT 8- Py_
"I remember one little boy was
carrying the only pet he could save,
a small rabbit, and we had to find
some material for a make shift
hutch.
"Many an heroic deed occurred
at this time. At one place, a slapper
drove his freight boat, laden with
sand, directly into a dyke hole and,
by surrounding it with sandbags,
that polder was saved."
The toll from the disaster includ
ed 1,835 people drowned; more
than 35,000 animals killed; 133,000
hectares of agricultural and horti
cultural land under water, and
47,300 buildings destroyed. In the
first two weeks after the disaster,
35,000 men worked to repair the
dykes.
Outside of work, John's free time
was taken up transporting relief
goods to towns and villages, some
times driving on roads where the
water was only about five centime
tres below road level. "A slight
breeze would blow water over the
road."
Repair work ^Fmlinued. On
November 6 that year the final dyke
hole was closed.
"At this time the Delta-Plan came
out of the Government's deep freez
er. It had already been talked about
before the war, but there was no
money (sounds familial'?). But now
it was revived with action to be
taken immediately. All islands in
the provinces of Zeeland and south
west South Holland were to be con
nected by large sea-dykes and fur
ther inland by secondary dykes."
In 1964 John and his wife, Nellie,
left The Netherlands, a country "at
war wdtli^jvar" to come to Australia,
a countiy most know for its
droughts and bushfires! Having set
tled first in Sydney, they eventually
moved to Adelaide, later retiring to
Moonta.
In February 2003, The
Netherlands marked the 50th
anniversary of the Water Flood
Disaster.
Unable to return for the com
memorative activities, John was
not forgotten. On behalf of a grate
ful nation, he, along with other vol
unteers from that dramatic time,
received a special letter from the
Prime Minister of The Netherlands,
along with a Water Flood Star -
(based on the Water Flood Medal
instituted in 1855), together with a
special commemorative book and
video.
These days John and Nellie are
kept busy with creative activities.
John, a member of the Copper
Coast Woodworkers, creates and
repairs wooden toys for the local
kindy and the Mailland Toy Library,
and Nellie's creative talents include
beautiful quilting and cross stitch.
John Schweinsberg, of Moonta, holds the Water Flood Star, commemora-
tj^book and video presented to him as one of the volunteer rescuers
dtmng The Netherlands Water Flood disaster of 1953.
