Paris museums on alert as flood chaos hits France, Germany

NEMOURS, France (3rd UPDATE) – Floods in Germany and France have killed 9 people and forced thousands from their homes, officials said Thursday, June 2, as Paris’ Louvre museum announced it would move treasures out of reach of the swollen Seine.

The world’s most visited museum said it would shut its doors Friday, June 3, to evacuate artworks from its basement storage, as the nearby river began to burst its banks following days of torrential rain.

Several towns in southern Germany have been devastated by flooding that has also seen rescuers in central France rowing lifeboats down streets turned into muddy rivers.

Forecasters in both countries warned of more downpours over the next 24 hours.

There were chaotic scenes in the German town of Simbach am Inn, where the force of the water swept away the entire stock of a sawmill, leaving huge stacks of splintered wood blocking roads.

On one street, a car could be seen parked vertically against the wall of a house, pushed there by the floodwaters. Many other vehicles lay flipped over on roads blanketed by mud.

Five people have been killed in the Simbach area, including 3 women from the same family – a mother, grandmother, and daughter – who had been trapped in their house.

Two other elderly people were also found dead in their homes.

“The (rise in) water was so quick that practically no residents had the time to run away,” police spokesman Armin Angloher said.

The deaths bring the toll from the floods in Germany to 9, including 4 killed earlier this week in the southern region of Baden-Wuerttemberg.

Three others are missing, a police spokesman in Bavaria state said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her thoughts were with the families “who have been plunged into this devastation.”

Paris museums on alert

In France, some towns in the center of the country have been hit by their worstfloods in more than a century, with more than 5,000 people evacuated since the weekend and around 25,000 homes without power.

In Paris, officials were erecting emergency flood barriers along the Seine. The riverbanks are home to both the Louvre and the Musee d’Orsay, which was also preparing for the worst.

The d’Orsay, a converted railway station which hosts the world’s greatest Impressionist collection, closed early Thursday and was set to move its most vulnerable works to upper floors if the Seine rises more than 5.5 meters (18 feet).

While the river’s swelling has so far caused little damage in Paris and is unlikely to submerge the city center, it is set by some estimates to rise as high as 6 meters above its usual level by Friday.

“It’s amazing. I have been here many times and it’s the first time I have seen the river so high,” said Brian Alan, an American tourist from Atlanta, Georgia, who was watching the scene from the Alexander III bridge.

“Usually we would stroll along the river banks and it’s impossible now.”

Rescuers in the Parisian suburb of Longjumeau were paddling up streets in lifeboats, while in the town of Montargis, only the tops of cars could be seen peeking above the surface.

About 200 people had to spend the night in a gymnasium in Nemours south of Paris and Prime Minister Manuel Valls, visiting the flooded town’s a crisis control center, said at least 2,000 more people needed to be evacuated.

“The situation remains tense and difficult in several areas. We still have many concerns,” he said.

 ‘Catastrophe’

French President Francois Hollande said a state of “natural catastrophe” would be declared when the cabinet meets next Wednesday, June 8.

The rains have hit the French Open tennis tournament, washing out play earlier in the week and leaving players facing a heavy match schedule ahead of the finals.

Schools and roads have also been flooded in Austria in recent days, though the waters have now receded. – Katy Lee with Pauline Curtet in Simbach am Inn, Germany, AFP / Rappler.com