Hundreds evacuated around Paris as Seine keeps rising
27 January, 2018
The Seine continued its relentless rise on Thursday, flooding quays with muddy water and putting museums on an emergency footing as record rainfall pushed rivers over their banks across northeastern France.
The Seine is expected to reach a peak of up to 6.2 meters in the capital this Saturday on a scale used to measure its levels, four to five meters above its normal height.
The December-January period is now the third-wettest on record since data collectin began in 1900, according to Meteo France.
Many regions have seen double the rainfall than normal, including Paris where 183 millimeters have been dumped since Dec. 1. More rain was forecast for Thursday.
While the Seine is set to reach levels last seen in 1982 at its peak on Saturday, it flows in a deep channel through the heart of the capital, posing a danger only to riverside buildings and infrastructure.
Areas on the outskirts are under water, however, including the southern suburb of Villeneuve-Saint-Georges where people are using boats to get around flooded streets. Parked cars were nearly completely submerged.
“After the floods of 2016 it took us nearly two years to repair the damage. We just finished, and now we’re going to have to start all over again,” said Akca, 31.
Just down the street, 21-year-old Carlos said his basement was already completely full. “It’s a swimming pool,” he said.
About 150 residents forced from their homes are being housed in a gymnasium, the prefecture said.
For the greater Paris region as a whole, some 400 people have been evacuated and nearly 1,000 people were without electricity.
All boat traffic on the Seine in Paris and upstream has been stopped, keeping tourists off the capital’s famed sightseeing boats.
Debbie Komorowski from Adelaide, Australia, was visiting the city for the fifth time with her husband and was left disappointed.
“Two years ago we had our wedding anniversary here, on the bench over there,” she told AFP on the Ile de la Cite island in the heart of the capital. “And now it’s gone! We can’t believe it. It’s amazing and sad to see.”
Metro stations might be closed as the Seine keeps rising, and services have been halted on the busy RER C suburban line until next Wednesday as workers seal off ventilation ducts to keep water out.
“It’s likely that the Seine will stay high for several days next week,” said Marc Mortureux, risk prevention director at the French environment ministry.
Three riverside museums — the Louvre, the Musee d’Orsay and the Orangerie — have said they are preparing for flooding, though only the Louvre has had to close off a wing, to move works from its Islamic art department to higher ground.
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