Paris floods: River Seine expected to surge higher and reach peak as French capital braces for more flooding

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Hatty Collier28 January 2018

The River Seine is expected to peak at a level of six metres today as Paris braced for more floods after non-stop rain in the French capital.

The Seine is expected to hit its peak on Sunday evening, flood risk body Vigicrues said as riverside households and businesses readied themselves should it fully burst its banks.

Drone footage, shared by French police, showed the extent of the rising water levels in the city centre and the damage caused in the suburbs where the Seine and Marne rivers have overflowed.

Water rushes past Alma bridge by the Zouave statue which is used as a measuring instrument during floods in Paris
AP

The rain-swollen Seine has engulfed major tourist areas and threatened damage to wine cellars and the basement of the world-famous Louvre Museum.

The rising water levels have forced a halt to all boat traffic in Paris, including tourist cruises, as boats cannot pass under bridges.

Quay-side restaurants have been submerged by water, while the floods have also highlighted the scale of the city's rat problem with rodents being flushed out of sewers in many parts of the capital.

Videos posted online have shown giant rodents scampering through the streets and climbing into rubbish bins and one French photographer captured a group of rats scurrying around outside Notre Dame cathedral.

The rising water levels are exposed the scale of Paris's rat problem
REUTERS

Some basements in the city have already sprung leaks and many roads in the region are already waterlogged after the rivers surged.

The Seine is usually at a height of four metres.

People walk along the flooded banks of the Seine river in Paris, France
AP

Seven metro stations along the river have been shut down and will remain closed until the end of the month.

France’s most popular museum, the Louvre which is home to the Mona Lisa, said it will close the lower level of the Department of Islamic Arts until at least January 28. It has removed works from the basement level.

Roads and walking paths along the Seine have been closed. Tourists are urged to remain vigilant and stay away from the river.

A statue representing a soldier from the Crimean War, is used by Parisians as a reference point to measure the Seine's level.

Paris police navigate on the Seine River that overflowed its banks as heavy rains throughout the country have caused flooding in the French capital (REUTERS)
Reuters

"I'm here to take pictures and souvenirs," said Marc Bernard, a 59-year-old man who was born in Paris and witnessed several other floods. "I wouldn't say it's spectacular, but it's a special atmosphere. It's nice to watch the waters running faster."

A few Paris residents have been forced to leave their homes on the Seine riverbanks. The manager of a building on the right bank in the west of the French capital said he had the ground-floor windows boarded up after residents lost most of their belonging in the 2016 floods.

"The first residents left three days ago and yesterday or the day before. Everybody was gone here," Joao De Macedo said on Friday. "They put everything up on concrete blocks."

De Macedo said he had noticed the water was also making its way into the building through the cellar's floor and was penetrating the walls.

The situation is far more difficult outside Paris. Exceptionally heavy rains have caused power outages and forced about 400 evacuations from homes elsewhere on the Seine after it and other French rivers burst their banks.

The floods caused significant damage in the suburbs. They will also have an economic impact on the businesses operating boats on the Seine, since all river traffic has been banned until further notice.

Anthony Huard, who organizes floating parties on a boat moored in the suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt, said much of his activity has been halted.

"Since the start of the year I have only been able to host just two events, instead of 10 normally," he said.

The highest the Seine has ever risen is 28 feet during “The Great Flood” in 1910.

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