River Seine causes bank burst, Paris on flooding alert and travel disruption

Thursday, January 25, 2018

The water levels touched 5.2 metres at the Seine River and the capital’s authorities warned it was expected to reach 6.1 metres by Saturday which will be three times its normal height.

As the river Seine is continuously rising the Parisians are warned to stay away from the river as it may flood surrounding roads and cause disruption of the city’s transport network.

In June 2016, the river reached that level being 4m higher than the normal height it resulted in the closure of the Louvre museum.

Vessels are unable to pass under the bridge and cruise boats, water taxis were halted. The Quayside roads and tunnels have been closed.

Michel Delpuech, the head of the city police requested the residents to take extreme care near the water and  the houseboat residents were asked to move out.

The rising water swamped the rodents’ dens and forced them to seek drier shelters. The Parisians were warned they might come across members of the city’s rat population.

A central section of the RERC urban rail line was shut down, closing several stations, including Saint-Michel Notre-Dame, Musée d’Orsay, and Champ de Mars near the Eiffel Tower on Wednesday morning.

SNCF, the rail operator said that it halted services after closing ventilation shafts to prevent further flooding of tunnels, where staff pumped out water.

Anne Hidalgo, the mayor called a crisis meeting with police chiefs and the officials said the situation was serious but not catastrophic. The city was on orange alert the second highest flood warning level.

Works of art moved to higher ground as part of the Louvre museum sitting on the bank of the Seine was closed.

The Musee d’Orsay and the Orangerie  also prepared for flooding risk.

Due to flood water from upstream the river overflowed earlier this week, the basin that feeds the Seine has received twice as much rain as normal.

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