Today the news is full of reports about things like “bomb cyclones” and “atmospheric rivers,” but as terrifying as these meteorological mouthfuls are, they hardly represent the terror of the 1362 Grote Mandrenke, literally, “the Great Drowning of men."
On November 13, 1833 the night became as bright as daylight, the heavens fell, and people feared that it was the end of times. The event was so dramatic that it sparked both a new religion and a new science.