 This disaster created a high (but short-lived) public awareness of the risk of inundation along the tidal reach of the Scheldt.Before the storm surge, there had been discussion in Denmark of whether to reinforce the dike at Tønder, or whether a new dike should be built forward of the existing one to withstand a 1 in 200-year storm event.This surge ended the debate and Denmark and Germany reached agreement in opening a new cross-border dike forward of the previous (Google Earth view of the area), which was completed by October 1981, with the dike at Ribe being reinforced by 1980.