Paris under siege as seine overflows
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PARIS’S world-famous Louvre and Musee d’Orsay museums shut yesterday as valuable artworks were removed from their basements after the rain-swollen River Seine reached its highest level in three decades.
At least 14 people have been killed in floods that have wrought havoc in Europe after days of torrential rain, trapping people in their homes and forcing rescuers to row lifeboats down streets turned to rivers.
The swollen Seine kept rising yesterday, spilling into the French capital’s streets and forcing one landmark after another to shut. Parks and cemeteries were being closed as the city braced for flooding that could take weeks to fully clear.
The Seine, which officials said was at its highest level in nearly 35 years, was expected to peak sometime later in the day.
“We evaluate the situation for all the buildings nearly hour-by-hour,” said Culture Minister Audrey Azouley, speaking to journalists outside the Louvre.
Inside the museum, home to Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa,” curators were moving some 250,000 artworks from storage areas at risk of flooding and taking them upstairs to safety. The Orsay museum, on the left bank of the river, was also closed to prepare for possible flooding. The Grand Palais, which draws 2.5 million visitors a year, was also being closed.
The Louvre said the museum had not taken such precautions in its modern history — since its 1993 renovation at the very least.
Parisians were urged to stay away from the Seine and officials have erected emergency flood barriers along it.
The riverbanks are normally thronging with tourists in what is supposed to be the start of summer, but visitors were walking away disappointed yesterday.
“We were going to the Louvre today, and we were going to go on the boat cruise for dinner tonight — and they were both cancelled,” said American tourist Elle Yarborough, an English teacher from Boston.
“It’s too bad, but we’re still happy to be in Paris.”
On Thursday, a man on horseback died after he was swept away by a swollen river in Evry-Gregy-sur-Yerre, southeast of Paris.
Ten people have been killed in Germany and two in Romania, while a bee-keeper died in Belgium trying to protect his hives from the floods, local authorities in the Nassogne region said.
French Environment Minister Segolene Royal said she feared more bodies would be found as waters recede in villages in central France, some of which have suffered their worst floods in a century.
The downpours add to a gloomy atmosphere in France just a week before the country hosts the Euro 2016 football championships, and amid train strikes after months of protests and political turmoil.
Boat traffic has been banned in the capital, and a regional train line that runs along the Seine has been suspended.
More than 20,000 people have been evacuated in France since the weekend and around 19,000 homes are without power.
French President Francois Hollande said a state of “natural catastrophe” would be declared when the Cabinet meets on Wednesday, a necessary step that would trigger compensation payments.
Several towns in southern Germany have been devastated by flooding.
In Simbach am Inn, the entire stock of a sawmill was swept away, leaving huge stacks of wood blocking roads.
Six people have been killed in the Simbach area, including three women from the same family. “The water was so quick that practically no residents had the time to run away,” police spokesman Armin Angloher said.
Four people were killed earlier in the week, while three others are still missing.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her thoughts were with families “plunged into this devastation.”
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