The North Sea flood and the associated storm combined created a major natural disaster which swept islands, villages and cities underwater, leaving hundreds of people dead.

Whirling down from the northeast Atlantic, a tiny but intense low-pressure area widened last week as it swept toward the pushing tides of the North Sea. The wind and the tides met and joined in mutual fury, then smashed at the British Isles and the Low Countries. Dikes crumbled. Whole…