The Province of Zeeland in the southwest of the Netherlands is very exposed to the risk of flooding. In 1953, a violent high tide caused by a storm breaks through the dykes and the land is quickly flooded by the sea. There’s panic and desolation everywhere. In the centre of the chaos, Julia has just had a baby. The problem is that she’s very young, the child is illegitimate and the inhabitants are great sticklers for religious principles.