French brace as Seine swells
Louvre at risk as waters of Paris’ grand old river rise to historic levels.
River levels are rising in Paris amid fears of a calamitous once-in-a-century flood that will leave much of the city submerged.
The River Seine reached levels of over 6m on Friday evening and continued to rise yesterday.
Paris authorities have closed several stations, roads, tunnels, parks, and the bottom floor of the Louvre Museum as precautionary measures.
The floods are expected to reach their peak this weekend, swelling to 7m — considerably lower than the catastrophic Great Flood of 1910, when the river rose to 8.5m — but urban planners have warned of the inevitability of a huge deluge.
According to the French capital’s Urban Planning Institute, a flood on the scale of the 1910 disaster would cost the region £17.5 billion ($33.78). The OECD estimated closer to £26b.
Charles Baubion, a risk management policy analyst at the OECD, said the city is “unprepared” for the massive deluge that will inevitably come.
He also said Paris is less prepared than most other major cities and must move into a higher gear to protect against the impending flood.
In 2013, the Urban Planning Institute released an alarming report explaining the inevitability of the “100-year flood” — so named because there is one chance in 100 of it occurring each year.
Back then, Serge Garrigues, the secretary general of the Paris Defence Zone, warned: “A really big flood would last between 10 and 20 days, during which time we would not be able to do anything except survive.
“Any return to normal could not be expected before 45 days.”
Another alarming report in 2013 came from the OECD, which said a flood similar to the 1910 catastrophe would “directly and indirectly affect five million citizens, and numerous businesses”.
It is estimated over 400,000 homes, over 800,000 people and about 750,000 jobs would be at risk in a major flood. And Parisian transport officials have warned 45 per cent of the city’s Metro and RER system would be knocked out.
The Paris region has been deeply affected by the floods that hit the country over the past week, but in the capital city, it was business as usual for the most part.
Roads on the river banks have been closed, as well as seven train stations alongside the river. Yesterday a small group of bystanders gathered at the Pont de l’Alma to take pictures of the Seine’s muddy waters.
Just in front of the bridge close to the tunnel where Princess Diana was killed in a car crash stands the Zouave, a statue representing a soldier from the Crimean War that is used by Parisians as a reference point to measure the Seine’s level.
By midday, the Zouave had water up to its thighs.