::corngrowth

gallery

Not only a body can have scars, but a polder (*) as well. This polder was 'wounded' when the south western part of the Netherlands was flooded by the sea on February 1st, 1953. The sea level was risen extremely high by spring-tide in combination with a north western gale (force 11) so that the seawater could be swept over the dikes, and broke a lot of them. The water was flowing very fast then into the land below sea level and created some inland creeks. The people in the south western part of the Netherlans were completely 'surprised' (please notice the inverted comma's). More than 1850 people were drowned by this disaster. I was a 7 years old boy then who lived in the flooded area as well. I still can remember how my family and me were rescued in the middle of a very, very cold night.

You can see a (repaired and heightened) dike in the distance, but the creek, being a scar of the flood then, is still there to remind the people in the south western part of the Netherlands that the sea can be both a friend and an enemy.

Hope you like this image. Thank you in advance for your comment.

(*) A polder is a low-lying (mostly below sea-level) tract of land, reclaimed from the sea, and enclosed by embankments known as dikes.