Excerpt from War Against the Water:

On 4 and 5 February a severe storm raged across the Netherlands, with disastrous results: the national death toll was 380, along with 16,700 cattle. Overijssel was the most severely impacted, with at least 305 dead. In his Description of the Overijssel Flood of February 1825, Johannes ter Pelkwijk, a teacher from Zwolle, described the dramatic scenes that had taken place town by town. One scene was more heart-wrenching than the next: many people saw their dear ones drown before their very eyes. In a ditch near Zwartsluis, five bodies from the same family were found. The mother had been in labor; the head of the infant was already visible. Yet Ter Pelkwijk also described scenes of consolation, such as the members of one family whose lives had been preserved “by a miraculous act of Providence,” and the visit to the disaster area by the crown prince of Orange.
…Flood disasters and the history of the Netherlands are inextricably linked. Flood disasters make for a fascinating paradox within the culture of our national memory. On the one hand there are the traumatic events from the past that expose the vulnerability faced by the Dutch: all too often they have lost the struggle with the natural elements.