Storm Memories

Tonight, as we have been watching the events associated with Hurricane Sandy as it impacts large areas of the Northeast United States, my thoughts have turned back to 1962 as I was serving as a missionary in Germany. Well do I remember this storm. I was serving in a small branch in Brake on the Weser River in North Germany. The city of Brake is about forty miles upstream from the North Sea. The area is low lying and has been protected by dikes for centuries. The Weser River at Brake is still affected by the tides. As missionaries we would often go to a small park on the banks of the Weser River and eat a sandwich during our noon time break from tracting and teaching. It was in February and on this particular day as we visited this small park. The weather was eerily calm, but we were surprised to find the water level as it would be at high tide. But it was in reality the time for the low tide. As we found out later there was a great storm brewing off the coast in the North Sea. Within a few hours the storm made landfall flooding large areas all along the North German Coast and into Holland. We lived in a small upstairs room on a street called Dungendeich's Weg. The building we lived in was right next to one of the dikes. We were protected from the storm by this dike which didn't break in our area, but it did break in areas not to far distant. Once the storm was over there were over 300 dead. More than 60,000 people had their homes and apartments destroyed by the raging flood water and winds. Most of the damage was done in Hamburg, a large city in our mission on the Elbe River about 75 miles north and east of Brake, where we lived, but as we got out and about the next several days it was very obvious how much devastation the storm caused. I have never been in a storm even remotely like this one, but Hurricane Sandy appears to be a similar weather event.

Our heart goes out to those affected, I couldn't help but count our blessings this after noon as I took advantage of the beautiful fall weather on a hike along the Logan River Trail. I remembered the childhood story about the brave little Dutch boy who saved his town by putting his thumb in the dike that protected it. If only it were that simple. Mother Nature is one powerful lady. Below are a few pictures I found on the web about this event.  Times have changed some.  People are now better prepared, but that takes nothing away from the awesome power of nature.

Houses in the North German Flood of 1962.

　
　

　

A dike beak. The Ocean floods in.

German workers trying to protect their homes from the flood.

A typical row house in Hamburg during the flood.

Following is a Wikipedia report of the the great German Sturmflut of 1962.

On Thursday 15 February, German authorities published the first storm warning for the North Sea with wind speeds up to 9 Beaufort. A severe storm warning followed the next day, with a predicted gauge of 3 Metres above normal, which was a level the dikes could withstand.

The severe storm and the flood it caused in the last hours of 16 February affected the dikes more than predicted and led to some 50 breaches before officials raised alarm for Hamburg. At this time of the day, most city offices were closed, which retarded the notification of the population. Civil protection plans were not implemented yet.

Due to telephone land line breakups, warnings could not be forwarded from coastal to hinterland emergency offices. Breakups at alarm siren lines and electricity lines affected the warning system severely. Radio amateurs had to establish emergency operations to support emergency services in means of communication.

Around midnight, the peaks were too high for some dikes to withstand. The back of the dikes was not yet fortified, so the first waters destroyed the dikes from behind and cleared the way for the flood.

Helmut Schmidt, police senator of Hamburg, coordinated the rescue operations, and requested for emergency help throughout Europe. He requested parts of the Bundeswehr for emergency purposes, especially engineers. That meant overstepping his legal authority, ignoring the German constitution's prohibition on using the army for "internal affairs" - a clause excluding disasters was not added until 1968. Also he got help by helicopters from other NATO states. The latter were called Fliegende Engel (Flying Angels) by the people.

120 square kilometres or a mere sixth of the city of Hamburg were flooded, destroying 6000 buildings. Streets were unusable and railway operation was suspended, leaving Hamburg unsupplied for a lengthy period of time.

Afterwards, emergency plans were implemented, and dikes were shortened and strengthened, leaving some river arms and bays unattached from the sea.