Paris: The death toll from the flooding in France has risen to four, officials said on Saturday, as the water level of the Seine river in Paris slowly started to decrease after reaching its peak overnight.
But authorities warned it could take up to ten days for the river to return to normal after swelling to its highest level in nearly 35 years, about 4.5 meters above average.
The death toll from the flooding across the country has risen to four while 24 people have been injured, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said after a meeting at a government crisis centre on Saturday. He didn’t give any more details about the additional death, which brings the total death toll across Europe from the flooding in recent days to 17.
Mr Valls said the water level of the Seine is now decreasing “slowly but steadily” in Paris and that several ministerial meetings will be held next week to ensure quick financial help to the people affected.
He also urged Paris visitors and residents to “take care to observe safety precautions” since many have been walking along the river banks to observe the rare phenomena. Nearly a week of heavy rain led to serious flooding across parts of France, Germany, Romania and Belgium.
Authorities have shut the Louvre museum, the national library, the Orsay museum and the Grand Palais, Paris’ striking glass-and-steel topped exhibition center.
Curators were scrambling to move some 2,50,000 artworks from basement storage areas at risk of flooding to safer areas upstairs.
