Three stories about the flood disaster in Overasselt and Nederasselt on New Year’s Eve 1925 have been recorded from eyewitnesses who lived in Overasselt during the dike breach. They were respectively 7, 5.5 and 5 years old at the time. What they did not know in 1925 was that the water had been up to the crest of the dykes for days due to snow and heavy rainfall in late December. On New Year’s Eve, the south-westerly wind was right on the vulnerable dike and the water punched a hundred-metre hole in the dike between Overasselt and Nederasselt near ´t Roth farm.
Pastor van Riel was at early mass in Overasselt church with parishioners at the Gospel just after 7.30am. Before he knew it, the church emptied and was left with one altar boy. They heard someone shouting, “D´n diek is doorbroken.”