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Remonstrants – Reformed Community
(Memorial Watersnoodramp:: Storm Surge Disaster of Sunday Febr. 1, 1953)
Hymn 21 : 2,3
Votum
Reply by the community
Bible reading : Psalm 93; Matthew 14: 22-33; Matthew 25: 34-40.
Prayer
Intertermediate, Hymn 241 : 1-6
SERMON:
By Ds J.A. van Nieuwenhuijzen
This very morning, many persons will have awakened with the thought: “This can’t be true, it’s a dream, I will enter the living room and I will see them sitting all together, all together ….”. But the person speaking, must have seen the room out of the ordinary, heard strange noices, the voices lacking resemblance …. realizing, in utter dismay: “But it is true, in the living room there are strangers seated around the table, lovable, friendly persons, but strangers: the one’s dear to me are not present, are gone forever … ”
And this man, this woman is one of many … .
One of many persons who does not realize, does not understand … .
None of us do understand.
Where art Thou God? Who-, how was this possible, the God in the image of His creation, this disaster could take place?
What is the purpose of this unimaginable destruction?
Where is the leadership of God, God’s Providence, that such could happen?
How did it happen, why?
Was God present? Is this His wish? But how is this possible, God’s wish? How could He wish such an awful event to pass?
We do not know. We must reflect. We do not have an instant declaration, this is an ordeal of the Lord.
We are not comforted by the thought God creates wounds for them to heal, that He lashes out to chasten, that He permits distress to teach us to pray.
The deprivation is too great, the cruelty too awful, the lashes too severe to be at peace with explanations or edifying assurances.
More to follow below the fold »»
We would like to comfort each other, but our voices are silent, because each word is inadequate. We would like to pray together with all who are chastised, but God is too distant, covered by clouds of darkness.
How many of us have remained silent impaired by impotence …. .
God reports: “no imagination, no word and no signs”.
“Thou art the One Who Is, makes known and no one to question!”
We must have the courage not to say much else, confronting those who have lost so many, show compassion by not speaking out more. Our love must be adequate, to leave our fellow man at peace with the suffering that confronted him, because it’s his sorrow, if that’s his preference … , it’s his right to be overwhelmed or not, although the intentions may be well founded, to be disturbed just by our presence close to him should be sufficient.
God is a mystery and His acts are a mystery, now more than ever before. Such we have learned, which can be fruitful, because our relationship with God has been taken for granted, too much self indignation.
This disaster shows us a sign of insecurity, it awakens the most profound questions of life itself, the passion of the heart, likely to subdue in time, a rise in a reply “I just don’t know”, so easily obscured in all sorts of false certainties.
However besides this, thanks to God, much more has become clear. That is: Jesus has walked on the incoming sea! It was His hand who led to rescues of people in death anguish calling for help. They who were in need did not see Him, as the apostles could see and touch Him. Who they did see were ordinary men, coming and wading through the flood waters, sometimes only visible their heads, swimming in ice cold water, steering flotillas and small boats … , floating by air. They approached from all sides and risked their lives without hesitation. A few perished in their mission … may their Savior reach out to them. These men were so driven by their will to rescue others, entrusted by their faith and their believe the mission was possible, it seems they were walking over the surface of the sea, they did not see any impediments.
Whether it would endanger their health, their money or their possession, it was of no concern. A thousand fold are the tales of these heroes, many witnessed thereof, especially the stories of the soldiers and marines and the men of the Air Force, but also many who remain anonymous. I personally can tell you about a physician from Overflakkee, who for six long hours waded and swam to look after his most serious ill patients, until he became one who has fallen; just one example of so many.
<click on photo to enlarge plus article>
I know, many of these men were not conscious of or stood still by the Christ, perhaps many have hardly heard of the Lord. They did not realize they were doing service to Him and if asked may even have denied the suggestion. But they did perform in His service, His army is infinitely larger than the numbers who consider themselves worthy to be called Christians, His power reaches out beyond church buildings and Christians, thanks be to God!
In His name they crossed the floods to reach fellow men in need and He reached out to them. And also: countless persons offered Him, without even knowing Him, food and water, and as a stranger shelter, naked gave clothes, visited brethren in ill health. Because so often will His visit be in cognito, as a stranger, by another name, ordinary people.
That we may have witnessed, the outpour of love and sacrifice as a substantial reality, gives us much gratification, even if we are aware of smallness in human kind, impulsion and deliberation. God is able to lift men above their own powers and make witness to Him.
One more aspect has become very clear: hundreds of daily concerns, where in our normal lives we consider as important and worthwhile to embattle one another, in the hour of need loses all their value and become irrelevant. Everything, what has separated us and what caused bitterness between neighbors was removed: religion and politics, social standing and intelligence, riches and poverty and so much more what had caused deep rifts and created immense walls, it was swept away in the knowledge we belong together and share responsibility. All of us have been deeply moved by this solidarity; a unity which in reality reached all corners of the world community. During a number of days our nation became united, was the world united and lifted the Dutch people in need in Zeeland, the South-West corner of the Netherlands.
We are realists to know it will not last, all inequality in the world will not be changed to equality; that many persons performed above and beyond their normal duty will pass, and return to their normal lives. Apparently all will return to normal order, here and in other countries. But this is a fact, maybe for a short period in time, here it became reality.
In a short lapse of time, it has been demonstrated we are all joined together, in spite of all smallness, quarrels and cavels. The positive influence will deepen in our community and nation. Christ prayed all men to be one; this became a reality in an unexpected manner, no one would have imagined. In our appreciation, we thank God from the depth of our hearts. His ways are miraculous and so often totally unexpected, but just by that fact alone full of grace.
The deprivation, the suffering, the anguish of thousands bears heavily on our community. This we must realize when we have not been inflicted by some losses, do not neglect our fellow men and go on with our own lives as if it didn’t happen. In instances we have been saved from hardship, there rests a great responsibility to – in the long term – share burdens and show compassion to those who have been lashed out by this disaster. This requires much humility, patience, endurance, discipline and rational love. Let us pray to God that we muster courage to invest and build up this solidarity. The mystery of all that happened remains in its inexplication.
May this be a beneficial sign of the necessity in purification of our faith.
However, surrounding this circle of mystification and suffering, may there be another circle of gratitude for the miracle of Christ walking over water, through our brethren. Saving lives of so many, and for the miracle that people set aside their own concerns, selflessness and forgetting their own limitations, by becoming one in peril, one in power of love and care.
We remember on this day all those who died and the victims of the flood disaster. This is the main wave and leads us to introspection and sincere sympathy. In this wave their are vibrations, somewhat dampened, where joy vibrates;
- because God, concealed for many, did move thousands, no hundreds of thousands all over the world, to offer their courage and love,
- because God did become a force and refuge for many who sought His help in time of need,
- because He, who carried our ancestors in adversity and the cross, became a guide in the storm and by night, and in eternity offers us a home.
Amen.
Hymn
Silence in remembrance
Our Father
Closing hymn 98 : 1, 6, 14.
(National anthem – Wilhelmus van Nassauwe)
Farewell and blessing.
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With gratitude to Ds J.A van Nieuwenhuijzen for his permission, and to a friend for pointing me to this sermon.
[Original provided in the Dutch language, translation by Oui]
During the floods and disaster, 1800 lives were lost during the first three days only! No lives were lost after this period of rescue missions.
All persons were brought to safety out of the flooded land, many heroes who went out to save others, perished themselves.
In sharp contrast to FEMA and Federal Government National Emergency Response – after a week the United States had not decided whether to accept disaster relief from the International community!
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– SPECIAL REPORT from THE TIMES-PICAYUNE –
It’s only a matter of time before South Louisiana
takes a direct hit from a major hurricane.
Billions have been spent to protect us,
but we grow more vulnerable every day.
Five-Part Series published June 23-27, 2002
Previous diaries ::
- NOLA :: Who Floated >10k Deaths & 25k Body Bags? Dutch Assist ¶ Update
- BUSH Think :: Creationist “Order out of Chaos”
Links To Skull & Bones Society! - Volunteers At Heart :: RESCUE MISSION KATRINA
- Chandeleur Islands Gone ¶ “Hazard Waste Areas ::
Everyone Needs to Get Out!” - Breaking – NG | DHS Orders :: Red Cross Not Allowed In NOLA
- Disasters George Bush Wrought :: Analysis and Katrina Update
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to the English language. I cried. I felt and experienced the storm and those lonely people who fled their homes, or sought rescue by moving to the attic, as last resort in the storm and wind, to the rooftops.
Their life threatening plight lasted three days, relief and rescue missions fulfilled their task to what was humanly possible. The Zeeuwen and Dutch could find comfort, there wasn’t anything else that could have been accomplished.
The modern 21th Century, with the advantage of new technology and communication assets for rescue and relief, fifty years later in the United States of America, our fellow brothers and sisters were let down. Their suffering was extended so needlessly, and horrific for the world to see.
I’m so ashamed, we can and must double our efforts to see the evacuees are supported in food, drink and shelter. America can show its greatness, it’s the responsibility of the ordinary citizens to make this happen!
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Has offered to place 10 Law School students from New Orleans, and let them finish their study
for a degree. Hurricane Katrina’s destruction had made it impossible for them to finish their study at the LSU.
UvA
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I was 7 yrs old, living just a few kilometers inland behind safe dunes along the North Sea coast. The Northwestern storm had been hammering our house with gusty blasts for many hours. During the night, everyone was awakenend and collected in a safer and large room on the first floor. We spend the rest of the night telling stories, keeping the spirits high and prayed and hoped we’ll all be safe.
My dad had inspected the house earlier, and from the noise had already suspected most of the clay tiles were blown off the roof. It was too dangerous to be outside. Sunday morning, my dad and my older brothers crossed the dunes to reach the beach and watched in amazement the damage along the coastline. Sand dunes stretching for kilometers in length, had lost massive parts of their protection and were recovered by the North Sea during the storm at high tide. The waves had pounded the beaches for more than a day.
Later during the day, emergency tidings on national radio brought news of dike breaches all over the province of Zeeland, Zuid-Holland and Brabant. The polders were flooded and men, women, elderly and children were fighting their battle to survive.
The flood disaster wich unfolded would be known in Dutch
history as the “Watersnoodramp 1953”.
<click on photo to enlarge>
Storm Surge Holland 1953 – A Disaster
Two days after full moon: high spring tide on Sunday morning 03:24am. Many dikes have already been breached or broken, in some places across a mile wide. The dike along the Hollandsche IJssel protecting 3 million people, just barely holds during the night.
Sunday morning: delta Zeeland has become a giant inland sea stretching from horizon to horizon. The tide recedes and many flee the lower areas to higher ground.
Sunday afternoon: second high tide, sea water reaches much higher than during the night forcing residents to seek refuge on the roof tops. Many homes and buildings collapse. Today just a few local rescue missions have started, reconnaisance flight overhead. Not many in Holland are aware that the agricultural polders Schouwen Duiveland, Goeree Overflakkee and Tholen are inundated.
Sunday night: the first fishing vessels from Urk, North-Eastern part of the Netherlands, reach Zeeland to begin rescue missions.
Monday February 2: The rescue missions have started, vessels, boats anything that floats enters the delta of Zeeland, and food and relief aid are dropped from the air in the villages and small towns.
Tuesday February 3: Most victims are being evacuated. Hundreds of boats and small ships reach the region. Military are part of the rescue missions. After this day no one drowns, the immediate disaster is over!
Boat used to save dike from break
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~ Cross-posted from Mountain of Dreams ~ Part 5 ◊ by shirlstars ~
Pointed me to a sermon of Ds van Nieuwenhuijzen, given before a Remonstrants Reformed Community on Sunday February 8, 1953 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Exactly one week after the disastrous Surge Floods in province of Zeeland in The Netherlands. I found the words to be very moving, realizing the peril all had endured during the storm and its aftermath – the same words could have been spoken anno 2005 in New Orleans!
Ds van Nieuwenhuijzen :: “Where art Thou God, This Unbelievable Destruction, Why?”
A narrow escape for another polder in central Zuid Holland, with some 3 million residents. Men, women, volunteers and the military had worked all night through the storm and rain, to keep the dikes from breaking.
In Zeeland and surrounding flooded area, 1800 persons would die – mostly by drowning – in floods caused by dikes breaking in a freak storm. A combination of high tides and a long enduring Northwestern storm, forcing mass waterflow to the coastline of Zeeland.
A previous historic flood was some 530 years earlier :: St. Elisabethsvloed in 1421, a year many remember for another reason.
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
<click pic to enlarge>
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The disasters cannot be compared as the situation is quite different. The damage to the Dutch dikes, 115 miles destroyed and an area of 380,000 acres were inundated . Mostly agricultural land with a number of towns, villages and cities with harbors of fishing based communities. The Dutch have lived with storms and dikes for centuries, the storm watch was in place but the storm was no match for the limited dikes.
Similar to the damage done by Katrina hurricane, the authorities were warned for poor funding to have the dikes restored and meet the expected fury of a storm once in fifty years, that would flood the land.
<click on map for animation storm surge North Sea coastline in 1953>The consequences of the storm were desastreus: 1835 persons drowned, and some 20,000 cows, 1,750 horses and 12,000 pigs perished in the waves. Houses, schools, churches and other buildings: 47,300 damaged of which 10,000 irreparable. A length of 115 miles of dikes were destroyed or severely damaged by the power of the storm and waves resulting in flooding of 153,000 hectares (380,000 acres).
A total of 72,000 persons were evacuated, therefore 1:40 were killed in the storm, approx. 2,5% of the population.
Flood Disaster – February 1, 1953
<click on pic to enlarge>
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Sea, tides and sand dunes
A resistance, determination to exist and fight the elements of nature.
but the Dutch created the Netherlands.”
American tourists do feel a bit uncomfortable in their approach to Amsterdam Airport: “Welcome ladies and gentlemen. We’ll shortly be landing at Schiphol Airport, 15 feet below sea level.”
The Dutch do fear the onslaught of rising sea level as predicted by global warming and the melting glaciers. But after the 1953 spring tide storm disaster in their southern province of Zeeland, the Dutch rebuild all their dikes to a higher level and the immense structures to withstand all storms for a thousand years, statistically.
The design of dikes has been unchanged for centuries, and only recently has seen a first failure of a sliding dike, due to … drought! The Dutch design of dikes can also be witnessed in France, Normandy, from centuries ago.
Emblem of Zeeland ProvinceCoastal Guide to the Netherlands
World Atlas
To battle the rising tide – a political lesson from the Dutch: resistance, determination and invest in a plan.
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Flood Surge Disaster – Watersnoodramp 1953
Photos & Video
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MORE RECENT PHOTOS ::
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Schiphol is indeed defined as recently posted. It’s the bottom of the Lake called Haarlemmermeer and was regained for agriculture in 1853.
Dutch poet Nicolaas Beets had written a poem:
Great lake, great lake
I’d wished ye were pumped dry
`Cause ye eat away, so many years
From my pasture with your waves
`T may cost me plenty money
To see your wrath curtailed.
Plans to lay dry this great lake were drawn up in the seventeenth century, but nothing came of it. The mighty city states of Haarlem and Gouda would not cooperate, as important revenues were received from the inland shipping between cities – see Leidsche Trekvaart.
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