With the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina upon us, it's worth remembering that far more deadly natural disasters have struck elsewhere in the world. When the sea rolled over the dykes of Zeeland, the Netherlands, in 1953, more than 1800 people died.

This historical documentary is well crafted. It weaves together lots of first-person descriptions of the terrible event (bless those English-speaking Dutch) with archival radio broadcasts and evocative sound, including much use of ominous ocean waves.

I suspect it will be tough for program directors to justify running this half-hour piece on a European event that, 53 years later, will be news to most U.S. listeners. It's a judgment call as to whether the story told here is compelling enough to be of universal interest. This is, in any case, a quality piece of radio.