Oude Maas
During a second flooding event (the St. Elizabeth floods) a major breach in the coastal dunes of Holland created an inlet that would eventually reach the Merwede, thus creating a new, more southerly and shorter path to the sea. Most of the flow of the river Meuse, and a considerable part of the flow of the Rhine (by means of the Waal), were rerouted to this new pathway (the current Biesbosch, Hollands Diep and Haringvliet). From that time on, the Oude Maas and Nieuwe Maas received little water from the Meuse. In recent centuries the influence of the Meuse has decreased even further, to the point that the major stretches of river called Oude Maas and Nieuwe Maas have been essentially cut off from the river Meuse completely.