Paris on alert as swollen Seine reaches peak levels

PARIS: The rain- swollen River Seine in Paris reached its highest level in three decades yesterday, spilling its banks and prompting the Louvre museum to shut its doors and evacuate artworks in its basement.

Parisians were urged to avoid the banks of the river which was expected to reach a peak of six metres Friday, while deadly floods continued to wreak havoc elsewhere in France and Germany.

In France a man on horseback died after he was swept away in a swollen river in Evry- Gregy-surYerre, southeast of Paris, local authorities said on Thursday.

And in Germany, a 65-year- old man was found dead in the flood-hit town of Simbach am Inn, bringing the total death toll in the country this week to ten.

Days of torrential rain have only added to the gloomy atmosphere in France, also facing a third full day of train strikes after months of protests and political turmoil.

French Environment Minister Segolene Royal said she feared more bodies would be found as waters recede in French villages which have seen main streets turned into muddy rivers.

Mohamed Amine, a tourist from Venice, watched the rising waters from a Paris bridge with amusement.

“I am used to having water up to my knees during the Aqua Alta,” when the Italian city floods in winter, he told AFP.

“But people in Paris are not used to it.”

Some towns in central France have been hit by their worst floods in over a century, with more than 5,000 people evacuated since the weekend and around 19,000 homes without power.

In Paris, officials were erecting emergency flood barriers along the Seine and a suburban train line running alongside the river was closed. — AFP