1 February

Alongside the human victims, large numbers of cattle drowned in the waves, and there was large-scale material damage. About 140 homes were destroyed or irreparably damaged. Stavenisse was rebuilt with help from home and abroad. Tangible reminders of this assistance are the 19 Norwegian wooden houses (one house has been transferred to Sint-Annaland where it was rebuilt at the De Meestoof museum) and the deer park.

The day after the disaster, 500 people already started working on sealing the dike breach below Poortvliet, which also threatened Tholen. By the end of that day, 1500 soldiers were working there, including from Belgium and France. By 11 February, this army had grown to 3390 men. They all needed accommodation, which was found in public buildings and ships in the ports of Sint-Annaland and Oud-Vossemeer.

More information about the 1953 Flood Disaster can be found in the Watersnoodhuis, Voorstraat 42 in Stavenisse or on the website: www.watersnoodhuisstavenisse.nl

Disaster monument

The castle did not play a significant role in the Eighty Years’ War, but it did suffer a lot of damage in the skirmishes. In 1572 and 1573, the Beggars invaded the island of Tholen, plundered the castle and abducted the steward to Den Briel. The town also suffered enormously in the battle. That was when the castle started falling into decay. In the years that followed, the castle was maintained, but it was only after the appointment of Frederik Hendrik, the House of Orange’s master builder, that there was real investment in it again. A chapel was erected on the castle grounds and in the town, the town hall underwent considerable renovation, thanks to a generous donation from the prince. After the death of Frederik Hendrik, the deterioration really set in. Around 1700, the original ‘upper court’ (the main castle) was demolished. Pictures of the castle show that more and more buildings disappeared in the centuries that followed. The castle was inhabited by the steward. The Oranges themselves did not come to Sint-Maartensdijk very often.

Assistance

The island of Tholen was struck by the floods on 1 February 1953. More than half of it was flooded. Stavenisse was hit the hardest. The seawater flowed in with great violence through 6 breaches in the sea dikes and 2 in the northern harbour dike. In the village, the water quickly rose to over 3.5 m above ground level. In total, 156 people died in Stavenisse, three of whom lived elsewhere. This represented 8.8% of the town’s population of 1737

All the houses in Stavenisse were damaged. Approximately 140 homes, mainly on Kerkweg and Wilhelminastraat, were totally destroyed or irreparably damaged.

On the first day, there Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management recorded the damage on the entire island. Of the 12,000 ha large island, 5000 ha was flooded. There were a total of 8 breaches in the sea dikes 2 to 4.50 m below the low water mark, with a total length of 285 m. Another 4430 m of dike was washed away.

Basalt marking columns show where the breaches occurred.