Storofsen - also referred to as ''Ofsen'' Changes in Flood Risk in Europe, p. 150. Ed. Zbigniew Kundzewicz. United Kingdom, CRC Press, 2019. - was a flood disaster that struck eastern Norway in July 1789 during which 63 people vanished, thousands of houses were destroyed and thousands of livestock killed. The rivers

Glomma The Glomma, or Glåma, is Norway's longest and most voluminous river. With a total length of , it has a drainage basin that covers fully 13% of Norway's surface area, all in the southern part of the country. Geography At its fullest length, the ...

and

Gudbrandsdalslågen The Gudbrandsdalslågen (or simply ''Lågen'') is a river which flows through the Gudbrandsdal valley in Innlandet county, Norway. The long river runs through a large valley in Eastern Norway before emptying into Mjøsa, the largest lake in Norw ...

flooded their banks and the waters of Lake

Mjøsa Mjøsa is Norway's largest lake, as well as one of the deepest lakes in Norway and in Europe. It is the fourth-deepest lake in Norway. It is located in the southern part of Norway, about north of the city of Oslo. Its main tributary is the riv ...

rose ten meters above their normal level. The Kvikne Copper Works were significantly damaged by the flood, virtually ending the operation of the mine. A bailiff (''fogd'') in

Senja or is an island in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway, Europe. With an area of , it is the second largest island in Norway (outside of the Svalbard archipelago). It has a wild, mountainous outer (western) side facing the Atlantic, and a mild ...

and

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies in Northern Norway. The municipality is the 21s ...

e named Jens Holmboe organized

settling Settling is the process by which particulates move towards the bottom of a liquid and form a sediment. Particles that experience a force, either due to gravity or due to centrifugal motion will tend to move in a uniform manner in the direction e ...

in the

Målselvdalen Målselvdalen is the largest valley in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The river Målselva runs through the valley, ending at the Målselvfjorden (an arm off the main Malangen fjord). The long valley runs to the north, along with the river, an ...

valley in what would later become the municipalities of

Målselv Målselv ( sme, Málatvuomi suohkan) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Moen. The main commercial centre of the municipality is the Bardufoss area (including And ...

and

Bardu Bardu ( sme, Bearddu suohkan, fkv, Perttulan komuuni) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Setermoen, the largest urban area in the municipality. The municipali ...

. Farmers from the

Gudbrand Valley Gudbrandsdalen (; en, Gudbrand Valley) is a valley and traditional district in the Norwegian county of Innlandet (formerly Oppland). The valley is oriented in a north-westerly direction from Lillehammer and the lake of Mjøsa, extending towa ...

and

Østerdalen Østerdalen () is a valley and traditional district in Innlandet county, in Eastern Norway. This area typically is described as the large Glåma river valley as well as all its tributary valleys. It includes the municipalities Rendalen, Alvda ...

that had been affected by the flood moved north between 1791 and 1800, with Holmboe helping about forty families with supplies and funding.Aschehoug og Gyldendals "Store norske leksikon". Norway, Kunnskapsforlaget, 1984.

References

1789 in Norway 1789 floods Floods in Norway {{Flood-stub