DISASTER Huge Floods Strike Europe - Paris under water - emergency declared in parts of Germany

Melodi

Disaster Cat
OK I didn't have a chance to start reporting on this yesterday because of planned power outages and I've got to go out this morning but I'm starting this thread as they are now evacuating art from the Louvre and shutting down not just downtown Paris but other river cities in Europe as well - this is getting bad; the storms are weird and moving East (not West) - they hit the UK yesterday and should get here tonight - anyone please feel free to add this thread while I'm out; see links for lots of photos and I will add more in a few hours if I can.

Paris floodwaters set to peak as more rain forecast

5 hours ago
From the section Europe
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Image copyright AFP
Image caption The River Seine in Paris has already burst its banks in several places

Floodwaters in Paris are forecast to peak on Friday with the River Seine due to reach 6m (19ft) above its normal level.

The world-famous Louvre and Orsay museums have been shut so staff can move priceless artworks to safety.

Flooding across France and Germany has left at least 11 people dead and forced thousands from their homes.

More downpours are forecast through the weekend across a band of central Europe from France to Ukraine

As much as 50mm (2in) of rain is expected to fall in some regions in just a few hours.

Several towns in southern Germany have been devastated and Belgium and Poland have also been affected.
Image copyright Reuters
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Image caption Waters are rising up the Zouave statue in Paris. The 1910 floods reached his shoulders
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Image copyright AFP
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Image caption The castle of Chambord, south-west of Paris, and its partly flooded park after River Cosson burst it banks

French President Francois Hollande said the weather was a serious climate phenomenon and a global challenge.

He is to declare a state of natural disaster in the worst-hit areas, which will free up emergency funds.

In Paris, emergency barriers have been put up along the Seine, which burst its banks in places.


Rail operator SNCF has closed a line that runs alongside the Seine in central Paris.

About 25,000 people are without power in Paris and central France.

In Nemours, 3,000 people have been evacuated from the town centre. The town's Loing river, a tributary of the Seine, now has levels not seen since the devastating floods of 1910.

Six weeks' worth of rain has fallen in three days in the Loiret department, submerging roads and forcing drivers to abandon their cars.

Other news from France:

A 74-year-old man on horseback drowned trying to cross a flooded field south of Paris. The horse survived with minor injuries, local authorities said
Fire services found the body of an 86-year-old woman in her home in Souppes-sur-Loing
The French Open tennis tournament could be extended into a third week
Floods also cut off the getaway of two suspected robbers in the town of Fleury-les-Aubrais. They fled their car and tried to make a swim for it, but were arrested

Germany 'mourning'

At least nine people have died in recent days in Germany, while several people are missing.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said the country was in mourning for those who had lost their lives.

The worst incident was in Simbach am Inn in Bavaria, southern Germany, where a woman, 78, her daughter, 56, and granddaughter, 28, were all found drowned in the basement of their house.

Another woman, aged 80, was found dead in the nearby village of Julbach, while a 75-year-old man was the latest to be found dead, in Simbach.

Earlier in the week, four people died in floods in south-western Germany.
Image copyright Getty Images
Image caption In Bavaria, the waters engulfed streets

Elsewhere in Germany:

An emergency was declared in the historic town of Passau
In Pfarrkirchen, more than 35mm of rain fell in the space of six hours on Wednesday
In the district of Wesel, North Rhine-Westphalia, a dam is threatening to break


Belgium has also seen heavy rainfall and has reported flooding in many areas, including around Antwerp, Limburg and Liege.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36441322
 
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Melodi

Disaster Cat
Paris floods: French capital faces anxious wait as River Seine continues to rise

The river, which is expected to peak at 6 metres, is rising towards the point where it might flood the city and cause widespread disruption
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John Lichfield
15 minutes ago
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Paris town hall has admitted that the speed in the rise of the Seine had defied official forecasts Getty

Paris is waiting anxiously as a swollen river Seine rises towards the point where it might flood the city and cause widespread disruption.

Officially, the river – now a menacingly broad band of muddy water – should peak at a safe height of six metres by this evening. Town hall officials admitted, however, that they had consistently underestimated the speed and extent of the river's rise over the last three days.

One riverside Métro station, Saint-Michel, near Notre-Dame Cathedral, was closed this morning when water started to leak through the walls.

If the river passes the six-metre mark, after a week of torrential rain in northern France, other riverside buildings and streets could be threatened. In 1910, when large parts of the French capital were flooded for six weeks, the river Seine reached a height of 8.6 metres.
Read more

Paris flooding: Fears grow ahead of Euro 2016 with River Seine set to rise further
Europe flooding: At least five dead as France, Germany and Austria hit by flash floods
Paris shuts Louvre museum to evacuate artworks as flood waters rise

Two of the world’s greatest art museums, the Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay, standing on either side of the bank of the river in central Paris, were closed "for precautionary reasons" today. Around 250,000 "reserve" works of art and historic objects in the Louvre’s underground store rooms were being hastily moved to the upper floors.

Around 30,000 artworks on the ground floor and in the basement of the Musée d’Orsay were also being relocated. Museum officials said there was no reason to believe that the Seine would be severely affected, but that the stored works were being moved just in case.

It will take from three to four days to clear the underground reserves to upper floors usually open to the public. The Mona Lisa, on the first floor of the Louvre, will not get her feet wet but she might have some unusual companions over the next few days.
Read more
The street artist who made the Louvre pyramid disappear

The severe flooding of towns and roads to the east and south of Paris claimed a new victim overnight. A 74-year-old man fell from his horse while fording floodwater at Evry-Gregy-sur-Yerre, southeast of Paris.

His body was recovered later. His horse made its own way to safety. An elderly woman and a toddler have also died in other incidents in recent days.

The Paris town hall has admitted that the speed in the rise of the Seine had defied official forecasts. "We have been taken by surprise," said Matthieu Clouzeau, the city’s director of prevention and protection. "The rise in water levels has been twice as fast as our planning models anticipated, based on statistics from 1910."

"Then the river rose by 50 centimetres a day. Between Tuesday midnight and Thursday midnight, the Seine rose by two metres."
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Louvre's pyramid disappears

Hydrologists are still predicting confidently, however, that the level of the river will peak by tonight at around six metres. For the water to start spilling over the high Seine quays and flooding streets and the Metro system, it has to reach around 7 metres.

Existing flooding, mostly of the lower quays and riverside roads, has already disrupted planning for the Euro 2016 football championships which start in Paris in a week. A dozen "bungalows" built on the riverside near the Eiffel Tower to house events linked to the championship have been inundated and seriously damaged.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...s-river-seine-continues-to-rise-a7063091.html
 

Melodi

Disaster Cat
Europe floods: Seine could peak at six metres as Louvre closes doors

At least 12 people killed across northern Europe in week of stroms, as villages flooded and roads wrecked

Europe flooding: have you been affected?

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Collapsed roads and landslides follow flooding in France and Germany

Angelique Chrisafis and agencies in Paris

Friday 3 June 2016 09.36 BST
Last modified on Friday 3 June 2016 09.39 BST

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Floodwaters flowing through Paris could mean the river Seine peaks at six metres on Friday, officials have said, with the Louvre museum closing its doors to the public to allow priceless artworks to be removed in an emergency.

“The museum will remain closed to the public tomorrow [Friday] out of precaution: there is no danger to the public or our staff but will allow us to calmly remove certain art collections should it be necessary,” an internal email to staff, seen by Reuters, stated.

After days of torrential rains, the French government has issued an orange alert for central Paris, with the Seine’s water level bursting through five metres. Its record high was 8.6 metres during the devastating floods of 1910.
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Both the Louvre and, on the opposite bank of the Seine, the Musée d’Orsay, which holds the world’s greatest collection of impressionist masterpieces, have detailed emergency flooding plans.

Both museums organised drills this year to deal with floods. In an alert scenario, the Louvre has 72 hours and the Musée d’Orsay 96 hours to get works held in their underground reserves to safety.

In one such exercise in March, the Louvre evacuated the whole of the underground section of its new Islamic art galleries in a day. The museum, which has vast underground stores, said it is equipped with anti-flooding pumps and watertight doors.

A week of storms has killed at least 12 people across northern Europe, submerged streets, closed schools and left many stranded on rooftops.

Ten people have died in Germany and six days of heavy rain in France forced the evacuation of thousands in riverside towns south of Paris and in the Loire valley.

The body of an 86-year-old woman was found in her flooded house in Souppes-sur-Loing in central France, where some towns have been hit by the worst flooding in more than 100 years. A man on horseback died after he was swept away in a swollen river in Evry-Gregy-sur-Yerre, south-east of Paris.

The French environment minister, Ségolène Royal, said she feared more bodies would be found as waters recede in French villages.

In the small town of Montargis, the water had risen so high that only the roofs of cars could be seen above the surface along the high street.
People stand next to flooded railway tracks in Souppes-sur-Loing, south-east of Paris.
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People stand next to flooded railway tracks in Souppes-sur-Loing, south-east of Paris. Photograph: Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP/Getty Images

Rescue workers have responded to about 10,000 calls and evacuated more than 5,000 people since last weekend. A “natural disaster” will be formally declared next week for the most affected areas, President François Hollande has said.
Severe floods around Europe after torrential rain – in pictures
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People in Nemours were evacuated after the Loing river burst its banks and submerged the high street. Rescuers had to use dinghies to reach stranded residents in streets turned into rivers.

“In 60 years of living here I have never seen this,” said Sylvette Gounaud, a shopworker. “The centre of town is totally underwater, all the shops are destroyed.”

In southern Germany, dangerously swollen rivers have severely damaged Bavarian towns. Six people have been killed in and around Simbach am Inn, including three 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.
A damaged street in Simbach am Inn, southern Germany.
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A damaged street in Simbach am Inn, southern Germany. Photograph: Lukas Barth/AFP/Getty Images

The force of the water upended cars and washed away parts of the streets; a thick layer of mud was left throughout the town by the subsiding water. Huge piles of wood and rubbish deposited by the torrent were visible next to badly damaged homes and offices.

A woman’s body was discovered caught on a tree trunk in the neighbouring town of Julbach, police said.


Cars and houses buried in German floods

Four people had also been killed earlier this week in the southern Baden-Württemberg region.

The outbreak of severe weather began at the weekend with lightning strikes that left several people, including children, injured in Paris and western Germany. Forecasters in France and Germany have warned of more downpours over the next 24 hours.

[Below is the rail road not a river]
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http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/02/deaths-as-flash-floods-hit-france-germany-and-austria
 

mzkitty

I give up.
It's still flooding bad in Texas too; I just haven't posted about it for a couple of days now.


8m
Video: Water levels in the Seine in Paris to continue to rise throughout the day - @lukeJbrownF24

Luke Brown
‏@lukeJbrownF24

Floodwaters in Paris to rise through Friday - yardstick for Parisians is Zouave statue - up to his waist for now!


https://twitter.com/lukeJbrownF24/status/738638979055144960
 

Melodi

Disaster Cat
And now it is coming our way (and yes there is a thread for floods in Texas but I thought Europe's situation was getting bad enough for its own thread)..France and Germany are getting hammered. And seriously this is weird - most of our storms come Atlantic into Ireland and the UK first - this is sweeping up and East from Spain ...

From Irish Weather on-line (na,na, na theme from Jaws - better tell Nightwolf to get that grilling done quick!)lol
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https://www.facebook.com/IrishWeath...249952491394/1369643873051990/?type=3&theater
 

Melodi

Disaster Cat
Lots of pictures at the link - now lead story on the BBC ...

Paris floods: Seine set to peak as more rain forecast
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2 hours ago
From the section Europe

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Media captionThe River Seine is at its highest level in decades

Floodwaters in Paris continue to rise with the River Seine due to hit a peak of up to 6.5m (21ft).

The world-famous Louvre and Orsay museums have been shut so staff can move priceless artworks to safety.

The number of dead in the floods has now risen to at least 15 - 10 in southern Germany, two each in France and Romania and one in Belgium.

More downpours are forecast for the weekend across a band of central Europe from France to Ukraine.

Several towns in southern Germany have been devastated. Belgium, Austria, the Netherlands and Poland have also been affected.

Thousands of people have been forced from their homes.
Image copyright AP
Image caption Artworks are packed away for safe-keeping at the Louvre

French President Francois Hollande said the weather was a serious climate phenomenon and a global challenge.

He is to declare a state of natural disaster in the worst-hit areas, which will free up emergency funds.
Another headache for Hollande - Analysis by Hugh Schofield, BBC News, Paris

Trains operating at only 50%, strikes on the metro, floods on the Seine, the Louvre closed, violent protests against the government's labour law, fears for the Euro 2016 football tournament - the list goes on.

If it wasn't an insufferable cliche, one would be tempted to call it Francois Hollande's "perfect storm". It is certainly not the perfect spring he would have liked.

Any self-help expert will tell you the best way to handle a concatenation of problems is to treat them one by one - and that is what the president is doing.

The waters will subside on their own. By Monday this will be an ex-story. For the rest, Mr Hollande is going through the list of disgruntled workers who have joined the labour protests - and buying them off.

The most glaring example is how he has now gone over the head of the SNCF (railways) boss to offer workers more or less all they were asking. It may buy peace for Euro 2016. It is probably not the best way to run an economy.

In Paris, emergency barriers have been put up along the Seine, a number of bridges have been closed and tourists boats have been banned from sailing on the river.

The river - which has risen to six metres - has not reached current levels in Paris since 1982, according to the environment ministry.

The current floods are eclipsed by the 1910 floods that saw Paris submerged for two months.
Image copyright AFP
Image caption During the 1910 floods, engineers built wooden walkways for people to navigate flooded streets

The Seine previously reached 6.18m in 1982, 7.1m in 1955 and 8.62m in 1910.

It is expected to reach at least 6.3m this evening local time and 6.5m in a "worst-case scenario", the ministry said.

It added the water level would remain at those levels throughout the weekend.
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Media captionBBC Weather's Darren Bett looks at the rain and flooding across Europe

Rail operator SNCF has closed a line that runs alongside the Seine in central Paris.

More than 5,000 people have been evacuated from towns in central France since the weekend and 19,000 homes are without power, the AFP news agency reports.

The French Open tennis tournament, meanwhile, could be forced to extend into a third week.
Image caption Flood-hit areas in France and Germany
Germany 'mourning'

In southern Germany some people remain missing.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said the country was in mourning for those who had lost their lives.

The worst incident was in Bavaria, where three women were found drowned in the basement of their house.

In Belgium, the body of a beekeeper in his 60s was found on Friday morning. He was caught in floodwaters while trying to protect his hives, the Associated Press reported.
Image copyright Getty Images
Image caption In Bavaria, the waters engulfed streets

Are you in France or Germany and been affected by the floods? Or run a business or project which has closed due to flood damage? How are your family and neighbours coping?

If you have an experience you would like to share, or pictures of the flooding where you are, then share it with us in the following ways:

Email us at haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk

Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways:

Send pictures/video to

Upload your pictures / video here
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36441322
 
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