The Louvre and Orsay museums in Paris yesterday moved artworks stored underground to safety as the swollen River Seine kept rising, Paris Deputy Mayor Bruno Julliard said, following days of torrential rains that have killed two people.
Floodwaters have forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes and dozens of schools have closed south of Paris.
“For the museums, even if there is not any flooding of storerooms as of today, there is an automatic process above 5.5m to move works in the deepest storerooms higher,” Julliard told France Inter radio.
The Louvre and the Musee d’Orsay are both home to world-renowned art collections.
Julliard said the works in the museums, which overlook the Seine, were not at risk yesterday.
Some low-lying roads running along the river are underwater and one underground commuter rail line has been closed.
Officials had forecast that the Seine could peak at 6m in central Paris yesterday, adding that level is still well below the level where it would threaten residents and businesses.
The river reached a record high of 8.6m in 1910, when thousands of Parisians had to flee flooded low-lying areas of the city.
French Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy Segolene Royal told France 2 television that the floods might take several weeks to subside.
“What’s going to be even more painful for the families who have lost their homes, the heads of companies who have lost their businesses, the employees who will be unable to go to work, is that the drop in the water level will be very slow,” she said.
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