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 islands, villages, cities were swept underwater. Ships sank at sea and capsized in ports—even at docks. Rivers writhed and burst their banks. Over a million fled. Other thousands clutched rooftops or twirled crazily on rafts and small boats to await rescue or death. Other hundreds died—too swiftly to be counted at...
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