FX.co ★ Flooding continues in Paris

Colombe Brossel, Paris deputy mayor in charge of security said everyone learned something from the 2016 and 2017 floods. The authorities are even ready to review the city's planning programs.

One of the most popular commuter line, the RER C, which connects the suburbs with the center, has halted service at Paris stops until at least February 5. This decision was made by the National Society of Railways (SNCF) after studying weather forecasters. Part of the roads is also blocked in the places of the most severe flooding.

Without work remain the famous Parisian street trams “bato-mush”, popular among tourists. Empty floating restaurants are moored along the shore in the center of the city.

According to police, almost 1,5 thousand residents have been evacuated. They were temporarily housed in school and sports buildings. That's what the city center looks like at the moment.

The continuing level of anxiety makes Parisian museums take additional measures to protect their collections. So, in the Louvre the halls on the lower floors were partially flooded, so the exhibits are transferred to the upper floors. The Petit Palais Museum, located in the immediate vicinity of the Seine, moved its exhibits to the upper floors, too. Notre-Dame de Paris, the Musee d'Orsay, and the Mars Field are almost completely closed.

The main Parisian landmark these days was the stone figure of the Zouava (soldier of the colonial troops). It was mounted on one of the pillars of the Alma Bridge in the center of the city. Tourists specially come to the bridge of Alma to photograph a warrior, more and more under the water. By now, as TASS correspondent was able to make sure, more than half of the sculpture has disappeared under the water.

According to updated data from the Meteo-France National Meteorological Service, an increased (orange) level of anxiety due to bad weather remains in ten departments of the country. This measure is dictated, in particular, by the behavior of Marna, the right-hand inflow of the Seine. Water in the river continues to flow, flooding the houses and farms of farmers.

Now the authorities are concerned about the forecasts that meteorologists give for the current week. It follows that on Wednesday, January 31, a new rain front will take place over Paris. As the situation develops in the flood zones, no one will take it with certainty.

As the head of nature protection services of the capital region Jerome Golner warned, weeks will pass before the situation in the city normalizes.

For now, Insurance specialists are trying to predict their costs based on the consequences of the 2016 flood. Then 182,000 declarations of damages were filed, and losses amounted to € 1.4 billion.