“I found a historical flood that must have been much worse then the one right now,” says reader Juergen.

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St. Mary Magdalene’s flood, the largest recorded flood in central Europe, occurred in July 1342 on and around the feast day of St. Mary Magdalene (corresponds to 22 July in today’s calendar), says Wikipedia.

After a cyclone (hurricane) dumped more than half-a-year’s precipitation in just a few days, the rivers Rhine, Moselle, Main, Danube, Weser, Werra, Unstrut, Elbe, Vltava and their tributaries inundated large areas. Even the river Eider north of Hamburg flooded the surrounding land. Many towns such as Cologne, Mainz, Frankfurt am Main, Würzburg, Regensburg, Passau and Vienna were seriously damaged. The affected area extended to Carinthia and northern Italy.

The flood apparently occurred after a prolonged hot and dry period. Since the dry soil was unable to absorb such amounts of water, the surface runoff washed away large areas of fertile soil along with houses, mills and bridges. In Cologne it is said that a row boat could pass over the city’s fortifications. The overall number of casualties is not known, but it is believed that 6000 people were killed in the Danube area alone.

It is assumed that the loss of fertile soil led to a serious drop in agricultural production. In addition, the following summers were wet and cold, so that the population suffered from widespread famine. The Black Death between 1348 and 1350 killed at least a third of the population in central Europe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Mary_Magdalene%27s_flood