France faces severe flooding and River Seine has reached the top of the arches

USPA NEWS - The Louvre and the Orsay museum will be closed and this Friday, June 3 to evacuate the works in reserve. Although the River Seine has reached the top of the arches of its bridges and some of the Paris quays have been closed, experts say there is no immediate threat to the French capital.

Although the River Seine has reached the top of the arches of its bridges and some of the Paris quays have been closed, experts say there is no immediate threat to the French capital. The height of the flood in 1910 was measured at 8.62 metres at the Pont d´Austerlitz in eastern Paris. Its level at the same spot on Tuesday was 3.82 metres. Experts predict that as the flood water arrives from the south, the Seine could reach 5.2 metres by Friday of this week.----------------------------------------------- Most Parisian museums are facing the Seine river flood threats. The most exposed are obviously those located near the river, namely the Louvre, Orsay and the Quai Branly. All these facilities have a flood risk prevention plan (PPRI) to help organise the securing of works. The plan is triggered when the flood reached the level of 5.5 meters. This is the Paris police prefecture which must then inform the museums. The Louvre and the Orsay museum will be closed and this Friday, June 3 to evacuate the works in reserve in the basement----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- According to IRPP, the works must be made safe within 72 hours. At the Louvre, teams are already on a war footing and a crisis unit was activated. Almost 250,000 works are in the museum, in reserves in a flood zone. They should also be relocated all the works that are on the ground floor, especially in the Arts Department of Islam, which was closed as a precaution. It is expected that these treasures will be transported in the halls of the first floor of the museum. These operations will require arms to personal museum will be added students of the Ecole du Louvre (at the time of enrolment at this school, they can, if they wish, sign a pledge to support the future teams of the museum).

THIS THURSDAY NIGHT VISIT AT LOUVRE HAS BEEN CANCELLED AND SHALL CLOSE TOMORROW--------------- This Thursday night the museum has been canceled and it is possible that it will be closed Friday. Like the Louvre, it is expected that the works on the ground floor are transported in median floors of the museum. As number of technical equipment are in the basement, it is planned to initiate a generator which is located upstairs. Cofferdams (kinds of metal dams) should also be placed behind the doors, especially those overlooking the Seine. Several works, however, are likely to suffer, especially the paintings of large format, which can be difficult to uninstall. Same for the sculptures that may have feet (and maybe more) in water.