The water level of the Seine river in Paris is finally falling after it reached its peak overnight, the highest in 35 years. Over 17,110 homes remained without power on Saturday, electricity supplier Enedis said.
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Authorities have shut the Louvre museum, the national library, the Orsay museum and the Grand Palais, Paris’ striking glass-and-steel topped exhibition centre.
One of the Seine’s tributaries had not seen water levels this high since 1910, when the Great Flood of Paris swamped the capital.
“For the museums, even if fortunately there isn’t any flooding of storerooms as of today, there is an automatic process above 5.50 meters to move works in the deepest storerooms higher”, Bruno Julliard, Paris’ deputy mayor, told France Inter radio.
The Louvre, along the with the Orsay museum, is moving some its treasures from underground basements to higher floors.
The Louvre, home to Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, said it will not reopen until Wednesday, while the Orsay Museum, known for its impressionist art, was closed at least through the weekend.
Towns south of Paris and in the Loire Valley received heavy rains as well, flooding and contributing to the swelling of the Seine in the country’s capital.
In the northeast, Moselle, Meurthe-et-Moselle, and Meuse are on orange flood alert following several days of heavy storms, which has seen a dozen villages inundated and more than 100 people evacuated.
President Francois Hollande said ministers involved in the flooding will examine the consequences on Monday at a meeting presided over by Prime Minister Manuel Valls.
People stand on the Alma bridge as they look at the foolds by the Zouave statue, which is used as a measuring instrument during floods, in Paris, Saturday, June 4, 2016.
France’s environment ministry said the river is expected to peak at between 6.
A man scoops water from his house in the flooded suburb of Villeneuve-Trillage in Villeneuve Saint-Georges, outside Paris, France, June 3, 2016 after days of nearly non-stop rain caused flooding in the country.
Eleven people have been killed in the German states of Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg, and two in Romania, while a beekeeper died in Belgium while trying to save his hives.
“It is really bad, we don’t need this now with all the constant strikes, the Vigipirate plan”, said bank employee Pascal Derby, 62, referring to the high alert imposed after the terror attacks in January and November a year ago.
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The Seine rose to about 6.10m but was now stable, the authorities said.
