Today was a day for some much needed rest. We have been so busy for the past couple of days and I have not been able to get a good nights sleep having to wake up early. However, as its is Sunday we were given free time in the morning if we would have liked to go to church, I decided to sleep in. I woke up at 10:30 and immediately got breakfast. After breakfast I took a shower and then relaxed for an hour or so.

We left for the Watersnoodmuseum at 12:45 and arrived at around 2. The museum was split into four sections, the first being the facts of the hurricane that caused massive, destructive, and fatal floods in 1953. There we found out how the hurricane was so slow moving that it caused the water levels to rise about 3 meters or about 9.5 feet, which is extremely high. It happened suddenly and over night destroying communication systems all over the country. The floods killed 1836 people and almost 200000 livestock animals which is astounding.

The second part of the museum was to provide faces to the names of the dead, telling their stories. This part of the museum was extremely sad as story after story spoke of people watching their families get swept away in the night, drowning. For example, one kid joined the military and as a result was not in one of the flood areas. later he found out that he lost 42 family members in the flood. In one night his whole life was completely uprooted and he lost everything. To make it worse, the Dutch are very different from Americans and they do not openly mourn so that they can move on with their lives. This means that all of these people who lost so much had to carry their sorrows with them and with them only. Where I live in New Jersey it is very flood susceptible. My house has flooded twice before but never to the extent what these people experienced. Yet, even the damage that we experienced was extreme and it is simply unimaginable the extent of the floods in 1953.

The third part of the museum was designated to the reconstruction and aid efforts which were an international affair. Countries from all over the world provided what they could, with some countries sending a couple of hundred blankets. I feel the response to the flood really goes to show the determination of the Dutch people. They went through WWII and had been rebuilding for their country almost a decade and then suffered the setback of the flood which cause billions of dollars in damages. The response reminds me of how the US responded to the 9/11 attacks. The people unified and got so much done in such a short time.

We then ate lunch at a restaurant right after the museum and left at 5:00. We went back to Rotterdam the scenic route and it was beautiful, although very clogged with vehicles.