Floodwaters threaten Paris, closing roads

No victims have been recorded; authorities shut several tunnels and parks too

Parisians remained largely unfazed yesterday as the Seine River continued to rise and approach peak levels.

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. The Seine will hit its peak soon, but without surpassing record levels, according to Vigicrues, the body in charge of monitoring flood levels.

The Seine reached 5.60 metres yesterday morning at the Austerlitz bridge in eastern Paris. It was expected to keep rising, reaching a peak of 6 metres over the weekend. That’s under the 6.2 metres the Seine reached two years ago. No victims have been recorded during the current flooding. Paris authorities have closed several tunnels and parks as precautionary measures. Roads on the river banks have been closed.

Reuters A resident is evacuated by Paris police divers in a flooded street in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, near Paris, yesterday.