PHOTOS AT THE TOP... WORDS FURTHER DOWN!
The Phillis Dam at the Grevellingermeer and Krammer waterways.
It can hold 8 ships of 300 foot length at one time.
Vintage building in Veere. We loved the shutters , as I am sure they symbolize some heritage.
A close up of the portions of the Dam at Oosterschelde. All the gates stay closed unless there is a storm and are needed to allow some water to flow through.
The city center of Veere, Netherlands a town on an Island in the estuary. Main street.
Folks having a cup of coffee/cakes at a cafe in Veere. It was afternoon tourist time.
A good look from the river side of the Delta Werks, (Oosterschelde) looking at the plates that hold the water out .There is also a lock to let ships in and out at the far end.
BEGIN STORY HERE.
You may receive two blogs today, as I was delayed on yesterdays and had thought I "zapped" it , but was able to find it.At this writing in the afternoon here in Sw Netherlands, we re stopped nd wqiting for cleqrance for a lock called Phillips Dam Locks. It protects the Krammer Volgerak waterway, as a sort of "second line of defense" in this area. There are 8 ship waiting to go "upbound" so we will be here a few hours at least.
Today's feature was a bus ride to a Flood Museum and the uter barrier tat protects one portion ofthe estuaries of the major rivers that flow to the sea here. t s now (after 1953) a major land devekoment area having been preserved and protected from the Ocean strms that cne in ff the North Sea.
One exhibit told of the horrible storm of 1953 that completely destroyed the dikes, homes and infrastructure that was here for many miles around. Here is an excerpt on the storm...
A combination of a high spring tide and a severe European windstorm over the North Sea caused a storm tide; the combination of wind, high tide, and low pressure led to a water level of more than 5.6 metres (18.4 ft) above mean sea level in some locations. The flood and waves overwhelmed sea defences and caused extensive flooding. The Netherlands, a country with 20% of its territory below mean sea level and 50% less than 1 metre (3.3 ft) above sea level and which relies heavily on sea defences, was worst affected, recording 1,836 deaths and widespread property damage. Most of the casualties occurred in the southern province of Zeeland.
That is where we were today Zeeland.
The area affected by the flood of 1953 where
towns were destroyed
The main dyke at Oostershelder-Kering which took
eight years to build and was the last one built.
This include the Island (many of which are polders today) including north and south Bevelend, Duiveland, and Walcheran. We visited the city of Veene, an old city that is a complete island in itself. Neat, clean, and has a marina so they can access the lakes and oceans nearby.
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| The Flood Museum is inside a "Cassion" much the same as the ones that were used in WW2 as "Mulberrys" on "D Day". |
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| Each of the villages and towns that were affected by the 1953 food completed a diary that is in this Museum. Photographs also accompanied the exhibit. |
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| One of the walls has a timeline of all the known floods in this area since the year 1,000. There have been 100,000's killed since that time. The tour ended with a short visit to the town of Veere, located on the coast of the Island of Walcheran. We walked the village and found the cobblestone streets to be better than average. Gradually the dikes were rebuilt, redesigned and now can keep both the fresh water in the rivers and the salt water in the Ocean at a level that protects the people, industries and wildlife. It is a significant achievement. The Delta Werks and accompanying dams and dikes is a World Class site and one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. The dams have an amazing total length of 16,000 kilometers. UNBELIEVABLE! Tonight Rotterdm (walk around only) and tomorrow we wrap ot up with a visit to the tulips at Keukenhof Gardens |
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