31 January – 1 February 1953 – The day of the Flood

It’s was a very cold dark and stormy night. I was sleeping in my apartment; it was on the 6th floor of a huge concrete and brick block of flats. I was fast asleep, totally unaware that the sea water was pouring in through the flood defenses. No one knew. I woke up to screaming and a loud crashing noise. At first it thought there was a bomb going off, maybe an old land mine from WW2. It was only when I looked out of my window did I notice that all the floors below me were flooded. The water went on and on, as far as the eye could see. It looked like all of Zeeland was underwater. I had to just stop and think so I sat on my bed and waited for nothing, I was in shock.

By now the water had risen to the ceiling of the floor below, I could feel the carpet below my feet was damp. I had an idea. I would run to the roof of the building with a flashlight and try to signal for help. When I got to the roof I looked around while flashing my flashlight. I did that for about ten minutes, by now I was heavily wind burnt and felt like I was numb everywhere. Just when I was about to give up, I saw another light flash back. It was a Royal Navy rescue boat. I had to rush down stairs to the water side to get on the boat. I expected them to wait and let me get my personal belongings, it was different. When I was walking downstairs to get on the boat, I saw a paper in the water. It was a picture of my mother from my apartment. My apartment was flooded.

I got on the Rescue boat empty handed; all my personal belongings were ruined. The boat was crowded; it was so full that the water was only about 10cm away. I was taken to a dune that was safe; it was high enough so that no water could reach it. There were hundreds of people on it.

That day I lost everything, my personal belongings, photos, friends, my mum and dad died!

The flood devastated my life.