Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 19, 2673–2684, 2015 www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/19/2673/2015/ doi:10.5194/hess-19-2673-2015 © Author(s) 2015. CC Attribution 3.0 License. Flooding in river mouths: human caused or natural events? Five centuries of flooding events in the SW Netherlands, 1500–2000 A. M. J. de Kraker VU-University, CLUE (Research Institute for the Heritage and History of the Cultural Landscape and Urban Environment), De Boelelaan 1081 HV, Amsterdam, the Netherlands Correspondence to: A. M. J. de Kraker (
[email protected]) Received: 4 December 2014 – Published in Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss.: 30 January 2015 Revised: 21 April 2015 – Accepted: 29 April 2015 – Published: 9 June 2015 Abstract. This paper looks into flood events of the past archipelago consisting of islands on which many small pold- 500 years in the SW Netherlands, addressing the issue of ers were interwoven with dikes into one big patchwork of what kind of flooding events have occurred and which ones defences. As the area borders the southern North Sea, tidal have mainly natural causes and which ones are predomi- water is funnelled into the delta daily, some of which could nantly human induced. The flood events are classified into reach dangerously high levels during winter time. Since me- two major categories: (a) flood events that were caused dur- dieval times the area has been exploited, providing people ing storm surges and (b) flood events which happened dur- with their livelihood, such as farming, peat cutting and fish- ing warfare. From both categories a selection of flood events ing.