Today was our eighth day in the Netherlands, and we had a free morning. I enjoyed sleeping in before heading to breakfast for some strawberry yogurt, sliced meat and cheese, a boiled egg, and a latte. Unfortunately, the pancake machine was not working, but hopefully it will be fixed soon.
After breakfast, I explored Rotterdam with some friends. Eventually we made it to the famous cube houses. There are 38 cube houses, and they all have three floors. For two euros, we were able to get a tour of one of the cube homes. The home had a kitchen, living room, office, bedroom, and bathroom. Even though the home did not have a lot of floor space, it still felt very open due to the home’s layout. The cube was set up diagonally, so the walls would point out past the floors. I noticed that the homes also had a lot of windows, so the natural light made them feel more open. The cube homes seemed like a nice community, and there were many coffee shops and stores in the area.
After visiting the cube homes, we visited the Watersnoodmuseum. This museum is also known as the flood museum, and it tells the story of the massive flood that hit the southwest delta in February of 1953. The floods were caused by a hurricane, and they caused the deaths of 1,836 people. One of the reasons that the floods were so disastrous is because a breach in a dike caused a domino effect. Typically, the outer dikes are the strongest, since they have to hold back the sea. Once that dike breaks, water rushes in and hits the inner dikes with incredible force, breaking them easily.
The flood broke cables, telegraph poles, telephone exchanges, power stations, water and sewer systems, and natural gas. This made communications, cooking, and most other tasks extremely difficult. Operation WaNo, which means watersnood or severe flooding, was done by the armed forces to help with the flood. The military set up radio transmissions to restore communication, and some fishing vessels even used their radio equipment to aid in the network.
Throughout the museum, I thought it was very neat to see how everyone stepped in to help after the disastrous floods. For example, France donated camp beds, Australia donated blankets, and Colombia donated coffee. I also saw that the caissons used to plug some of the breached dikes were left over from the landings in Normandy and Belgium in World War Two. I thought it was very cool how they were able to use the structures to make a positive difference.
Overall, I found the Watersnoodmuseum to be very informative. I am happy we visited it before going to the delta works, since I think it puts the importance of water management into perspective. As we saw today, when dikes and water management fail, thousands of lives can be lost. Additionally, the Watersnoodmuseum connects to sustainability. Climate change leads to rising sea levels and more intense storms, which both put countries like the Netherlands at an increased risk for disaster.
I really enjoyed my day today, and I look forward to sharing more updates soon!
