DUTCH DYKES BURST.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16128, 17 January 1916, Page 4

DUTCH DYKES BURST.

MANY VILLAGES FLOODED.

NORTH HOLLAND IN DANGER.

WATER FROM ZUYDER ZEE

POPULACE TERROR-STRICKEN

Br Telecrapb—Press Association— Copyright.

(Received January 16, 7 p.m.)

London*, January 15. The whole of North Holland is in danger of flooding owing to the bursting of the Zuyder Zee dykes at various points. Ibe people have fled from Edam and other towns. Volandam is entirely flooded, and the water is pouring in with terrific force at Brock in Waterland. a village four miles north-east of Amsterdam. Tlie storm caused a lid, wave, destroying railway communication with South Holland. A great storm preceded the floods- He population was awakened by the alarm bells and was terror-stricken to find itself confronted by water rushing into the streets and houses. Soldiers and civilians vied in trying to prevent an extension of the flood. Volandam is completely isolated, Mcrken is entirely submerged. and Nbnnickenzam is partially under water. It is feared tho whole of North Holland will bo inundated. Tho dyke near Muiden, on the south shore of the Zuyder Zee, sis miles from Amsterdam, broke at two o'clock in the morning, flooding the streets. The people spent tho night combating the flood. There were similar inundations elsewhere. The water poured over the dyke with a noise like thunder. Some houses were swept away, and the population fled to boats. Many cattle were drowned in the low-lying, polderland. At Broek in Waterland and Edam, cattle were put in the churches, where tho peoplo also took refuge.

Tales of alarm and confusion come from Hoorn, on the west coast of the Zuyder Zee, Naarden, on the south shore, eleven miles from Amsterdam, and Sloot, following the alarm bells ringing in the midst of the darkness and storm.

DRAINING THE ZUYDER ZEE. GIGANTIC SCHEME. The p'aces mentioned in the cables arc mostly villages. The area chiefly affected by the floods is the portion of Holland north of Amsterdam, which forms a peninsula partly enclosing the Zuyder Zee. The Zuyder Zee is a land-locked inlet on the coast of Holland, bounded on the north I by the chain of the Frisian Islands. It is about 85 miles long from north to south and from 10 to 45 mi!es broad, with an , area of 2027 square miles, and contains : the islands of Marken, Schokland, Urk Wieringen and Griend. In the early I centuries of the Christian era the Zuyder (Southern) Zee was a small ii.land lake situated in the southern part of the pre- I sent gulf and called Flevo by Tacitus, ' Pliny and other early writers. It was separated from the sea" by a belt of marsh and fen uniting Friesland and North Hol- . land, the original coast line being still in- \ dicated by the line of the Frisian Islands. In time, however, and especially during the twelfth century, high tides and north" ' west storms swept away the banks of the largest of the numerous streams that dis- j charged their waters into this lake and , submerged great tracks of land. In 1170 i the land between Stavoren, Texel and Medemblik was washed away, and a century I later the Zuyder Zee was formed. The [ open waterway between Stavoren and i Enkhuizen, however, as it now exists, I dates from 1400.

In the nineteenth century the advances of engineering and mechanical science suggested the possibility of draining the lake. from 1849 onward investigations have been carried ont with this object in view, and about 1890 an eminent engineer, M. Lely, took over 2000 borings to prove that a large proportion of the soil would be good agricultural land when drained. In 1901 this same M. Lely became Minister for Public Works, and" he at once introduced a Bill for the drainage of the southwest portion of the Zuyder Zee- But the Cabinet of which he was a member had a very short life, and it was not till August, 1913, that M. Leiy was in office again. Within a month he had prepared another Bill to carry out his long-cherished project. The Netherlands Government had under consideration in 1914 a scheme for draining a portion of the ZuyderZee, involving the reclaiming of 815 square miles and the conversion of 557 square miles into a freshwater lake. The cost wa s estimated at £15.750,000, which would include the construction of 18 miles of concrete embankment between Weiringen, on the opposite side of the Zuvdcr Zee, and Beti't on the Warner. The embankment v.ill carry a double lino of railwavs and a carnage road. It is expected that the land gained will give the State a rental of £1.250,000. By these draining operations it is expected to win not less than 500 000 acres of fertile land, which will support % population of 200.000 persons, including 40 000 farmers and 50.000 traders, artisans etc. As the present Zuvder Zee fisheries' maintain in none too prosperous conditions only 0100 fishermen and their families with some 3000 boats, the eain will be enormous In fact, the present income de-rived from fisheries ..mounts to abon* £200 000 Wnen the lake i s converted into dry- .and it is calculated that it will sun port a population of 200,000 persons ' in cluding 40,000 farmers ; and the climated yield is put down at £5,000 000 per annum